Zooming in on Beauty
The right question at the right time can change everything. Just ask Kimberly Krauk.
Eight years ago, she was working in the corporate world; comfortable but not at all satisfied. (Sound familiar?) One day, she asked herself: “What am I doing with my life?”
Being honest about the answer made all the difference.
She booked a trip to Europe. Before she left, a photographer friend lent her a pro camera, with one condition: she was not to take the standard tourist shots. Instead, she was to “get on the ground, stand on top of things, learn to see the world in a new way.”
What she learned about photography and about herself on that trip led her to develop a truly beautiful and surreal artistic style.
Her art prints, many of which present juxtapositions of ethereal, dreamlike, reflections, are all about “seeing beyond the surface.” A selection of her latest work, displayed at Citadel Square Baptist Church during Piccolo Spoleto as part of a multi-artist exhibit, dealt with exactly that: the deeper context in which our hopes and fears live, the bonds that hold us where we are and the ideas that move us forward.
It’s no surprise that her calendar tends to fill up quickly with models and families eager to be interpreted through her lens and unique post-processing style. “Photoshop and Lightroom are my playgrounds,” she laughs. It works though – the many layered, textured, look of her images distance them from conventional reality, allowing a closer glimpse at the true essence within the subject.
The insights she learned through art have opened up her life in ways beyond photography as well. Today, she travels the world as part of Invest in Children & Youth, a nonprofit organization that works with traumatized and at-risk youth; children who have been through natural disasters or war, forced to be child soldiers, or simply abandoned.
The work is emotionally harrowing but profoundly satisfying to her; allowing her to help others discover the healing power of creativity – whether expressed through art, music, or writing – within themselves.
That work has, in turn, fed back into her work as an artist. “I’ve learned that despite our circumstances, beauty remains,” she says. “I’ve seen people who have been through horrible experiences. But their spirits are not crushed. They still have joy. They still want to learn and grow.”
And her work, Zoom Photography, helps do just that. Propel spirits forward.
Zoom Zoom.
Story by: Jason A. Zwiker
Photos: Provided by Kimberly Krauk
