We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kathryn Fulp a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kathryn, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

It started in 2021. My partner was attending a party held by one of his professors at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. I met the host, a joyful, kind, and overwhelmingly curious director of primarily film and television, named Peter Werner. In 1976 he won an Oscar for a narrative short he’d made while attending AFI, but bemoaned the fact that the only print he had of it had been degraded over time. I asked if I could have a try at cleaning it up for him, using some software I had at work and then editing in Adobe Premiere. A few months later I delivered the print and he was overjoyed. He shared it with his friend he’d worked on it with and said they both cried. He told me this was the biggest favor I could have ever done for him. It was extremely meaningful to me, to give this person who had so quickly became my friend, this print, and to have had the honor of his trust while working on it. However, that is not the most meaningful thing. Earlier this year he died rather suddenly. The school was going to host a memorial, and I was contacted about the print I had cleaned up (as well as his first documentary project that I’d also cleaned up). A former professor from the school contacted me to work on the video. She had put most of the pieces into place but needed the sound, color-grading, and cuts to be fine-tuned. We both worked together for hours on the video, and it played at the memorial for his colleagues, collaborators, friends, and his wife on a big, cinema screen in a theatre at UNSCA. To be tasked with that work was the most meaningful thing to do, and it was especially emotional for me as the first time I saw my work shown on the big screen was for, and because of him. I think forever that will be my most meaningful work.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Photography began for me, as a means of survival. I had an eating disorder for nine years and promoted my healing through the self-portraits I took. Photos presented me with a way of looking at myself objectively. I found the beauty in my body the same way I could find the beauty in other things, be they other bodies or landscapes, or objects. My creative portrait work was rooted in those self-portraits I had made, and eventually, I started picking up small clients here and there. I started working with a talented photographer and videographer and learned a lot from him. Now I’m somewhat of a jack of all trades, but I believe my core talents lie in portraits of others, often with an editorial or conceptual bent.

I am often contracted for portraits, headshots, weddings, and product photography. I’ve also started videography too, focusing mainly on narrative shorts, but am open to most project ideas.

I’d say that I’m set apart by the look and feel of my images, which convey a strong mood and sense of the subject.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

When I began freelancing I would often bend over backwards for clients, often doing far more than what I’d been paid to do. I love my clients, and I genuinely enjoy fostering relationships with them, but I’ve had to unlearn this behavior. People respect self-respect, and the right clients will respect your boundaries. Communication is so important in this business. There are tons of talented photographers out there, but I think it’s how you treat others and how you treat yourself that set you apart.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Getting to share my vision of the world, which is ever-present in my art.   

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.akfulp.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kathrynfulp/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathryn-fulp-12971a250/

Image Credits
Headshot by Vincenzo Irrig All other photos by Kathryn Fulp