We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kara Adams a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Kara, thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
I first learned about photography and graphic design when I was a junior in high school. I had decided to take a couple of photography and graphic design courses to fill my schedule and try something new but I had no idea how much I would love it when I made that decision. I started off by working with a small point and shoot digital camera that my parents bought for family vacations. The camera wasn’t anything fancy and there was not a lot I could do in camera when I photographed so I really got a chance to hone my photoshop skills over the course of two years. It wasn’t until I reached college that I was introduced to film cameras and working in the dark room. I personally feel that if I had learned dark room photography first it would have sped up my learning process as I would have learned to work within the camera to create a photograph instead of relying on photo editing programs to correct my images. The process of working in a darkroom is more tedious but extremely rewarding when your film and images turn out the way you planned for them to. Learning traditional photography was one of the most essential skills I have learned. It helps a photographer learn patience, focus, and to work with what you have in different situations. When I went to college in Santa Fe, New Mexico to receive my degree in photography I increased my knowledge of the craft and improved upon my skills through courses in the history of photography, alternative processes, and large format photography. These different perspectives were essential to the learning process and helped me in focusing on photographing intentionally.
One of the largest obstacles in photography for anyone can be the cost. Equipment is expensive no matter if you are shooting digitally or with film. There are large one time costs, but there are also multiple smaller costs that add up over time. This can make staying consistent difficult for a lot of people. Another obstacle I personally ran into when learning photography was that I am very scatterbrained and will often trail off in the middle of a project. I often have too many project ideas and will want to start all of them right away. This also often requires me to learn new skills to complete certain projects and then I am spread too thin which is never a good thing for the creative process. It has taken years to overcome these obstacles and to focus myself in an intentional way.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?
I am part of two different industries. I am a photographer but I am also part of the nonprofit sector. I currently work for a small community organization that serves the senior community, and on the side I continue to photograph. These two industries have been working hand and hand in my life for some time now as I have been using photography to help the nonprofits I work for by photographing events to use for marketing, outreach, etc.
The project that I am still the most proud of was my “Value of Nothing” project; created back in 2014 while I was in school. I retold Greek myths to depict what happens when we only value what many would consider the shallow things in life such as our material possessions and our outer beauty. This project was created at a time in my life when I was trying to learn about who I am as a person, what I want out of life, and what I value most in this world. This was also a time when I made the most mistakes in my life and learned to recenter myself. The colorization style of editing used in the images brings the viewer into the photograph and focuses the eye on the object that is being most coveted in the story. This project helped to define my overall style as a photographer and it allowed for me to channel different creative styles.
My other work is very different from my portrait based photographs. I am the type of person who likes to see the big picture, and to view the world as a whole and I do this by creating panoramic images. Each panoramic that I create is made up of between 5-15 photographs and will often cover the 360 degree view of an area. I enjoy this work because it aligns more with the view you would take in when you are out exploring the world. I think the reason I love this style so much is because there is a bit of nostalgia in it for me. I am able to look back at a photograph and hold onto the memory of when the image was taken. These photographs provide the full view and do not limit the eye to one area, allowing for something new to be discovered every time I look at the image.
I am currently working on some new projects that I am very excited about and look forward to sharing them in the near future. My focus now is still on mythology but using it for women’s empowerment. There are several other themes I hope to work with in the future and look forward to diving back into portrait work after a long hiatus.
Is there a mission driving your creative journey?
My overall mission as an artist is to tell a story through my work. This became a big part of my style when I was in college and working on my “Value of Nothing” series. The impact that telling those stories and making them my own had on me was huge and I hope to be able to make an impact in other’s lives that way as well. In recent years I had gone through a period of burn-out when creating so now my drive is about bringing myself back to what I loved about photography in the first place. As I work towards this goal I am reworking the content of my photos, and the style in which I shoot. What inspired me in the first place was learning something new and continuing to build my knowledge of the art form. This will be prominent in upcoming projects as I incorporate new ways of editing and step out of my comfort zone when shooting. I look forward to sharing new projects soon and reentering the world of photography with an energized and intentional mindset.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I have mentioned before that I suffered through a time period in which I was extremely burnt out. I had little motivation to photograph or create anything new and it was difficult to come to terms with the fact that photography was not giving me much joy anymore. Due to this I made the decision to turn to another passion of mine, working with nonprofit organizations. I was already working with a nonprofit at the time and I had learned that I had a love for learning the inner workings of how an organization functions. This prompted me to go back to school and receive my Masters in Nonprofit Administration from North Park University. While in school I accepted a new job at a small nonprofit organization in Del Mar, CA. During my time in my new position I have been able to utilize my photography skills to help with marketing and promotional materials in order to further our mission. Being able to refocus my energy helped me to rediscover what I loved about photography and that was being able to tell a story with my images. When we all began to isolate in 2020 because of Covid-19 I found many new ways to express myself creatively and it helped me through the year that I worked from home and I came out on the other end of it with new ideas and an excitement to produce something new. Some of the best advice I can give to someone is that it is ok to try something new, even if it is entirely different from what you were doing before. Sometimes that shift in your life can cause you to discover something new about yourself or lead you right back to the root of why you loved what you did before. I look forward to using this new energy that I have found from the experience to create something new.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.karatjphoto.com/
- Instagram: kara.tjelmeland
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KaraTjelmelandPhotography
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