It wasn’t until college that Karyn became interested in photography. At that time landscapes were her focus. She and her friends would grab their cameras and drive for hours in Pennsylvania Amish country in the hopes of stumbling upon a covered bridge or an historic barn to use as the backdrop for a portrait. Abandoned farm equipment, a horse drawn buggy, and clothes drying on the clothesline were favorite subjects. During this time, she also developed an interest in aerial photographs which became part of her undergraduate and graduate research in geology. In 2016, when Karyn was pregnant with her second child she started taking online photography classes targeted at moms. She spent the majority of her maternity leave photographing her newborn, carrying him around the house to different types of light and settings. Five years into her photography journey, making photographs has become Karyn’s therapy and her way to bring her own childhood memories into view.
Karyn uses a documentary approach and intentional portraiture to tell introspective stories about the connections and relationships between her children and extended family members. She brings compassion, curiosity, and a sense of humor to her images as she documents children honestly, in their joy, awkwardness, inquisitiveness, and boredom. Rather than being timeless, Karyn’s images are contemporary. Grounding subjects in time and space she captures present day surroundings and happenings along with the ephemeral nature of childhood.
Karyn has been included in exhibitions at the Dallas Center for Photography, International Center for Photography, and Curated Fridge. She has been published in Shots Magazine and has received awards from the Documentary Family Awards and National Association of Professional Childhood Photographers. She was a participant in the Atelier 33 class at the Griffin Museum of Photography.
