Jan Groh is a disabled apicentric (bee-loving) photographer and artist living in Portland, Oregon. She was doing business as Apicentric Photography thirteen years ago when she became suddenly disabled by a massive onset cascade of hypermobile type Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome at 45. Suddenly, all her life challenges and chronic pain and fatigue made sense. (Along with the family medical history.)

She took a life detour and became a medical educator, even being tapped to co-author some books and the EDS Toolkit for Doctors. But she wanted to return to her first love, photography, and share her work with the world. So this site was born in January 2025.

About my photography: I started shooting as a child in the 70s and 80s with an old Kodak Ektralite pocket camera, using C-110 film. So, no previews. You had to hope you got it right, and wait to see what developed at the store. (We were poor, so no fancy 35 mm cameras or film for me.) But it also survived sub-zero temperatures riding in my pocket on a snow-camping trip in Vermont, whereas my colleague’s 35mm film froze – and broke, rendering their camera useless. (So I got the only good group shots of the trip.)

I got my first DSLR camera in 2008 with money my late aunt gave me, a Nikon D60 with which I’ve gotten some of my best shots. (I sometimes use Kenko extension tubes for some poor man’s macro effects.) I briefly owned a Nikon D90, but it was too heavy for my disabled body. I now use a mirrorless Nikon Z50 a friend bought me in 2023, and I’m quite happy with it. You don’t need a fancy camera to take good photos. I even take some of my best shots on my phone.

As the saying goes: The best camera to have is the one you have at the time the shot presents itself. Always be ready to capture a special moment, no matter what camera you’re carrying. I have found shooting bees and wildlife to be really good training for photographing kids and pets too. You can’t exactly ask the bees to pose, so you get used to adapting and responding to the circumstances quickly. (Quick reflexes help.)

Why bees? I love bees, but I live in an apartment so I can’t keep them myself in hives. (I dream of keeping them some day.) So, I keep them in photos. Enjoy.