ARTIST: PHOTOGRAPHER KATHRYN BROLIN

Tell us a bit about your path. What first pulled you into your craft?

The spark in photography came for me in high school. We had access to a dark room and for a blossoming student of photography, that was a massive luxury. It was the time of day I always most looked forward to: that quiet escape from the world and the freedom to create art in such a unique tactile way. In college I studied photography and left half-way through to study at an art school in Italy. The combination of a foreign culture with this base point of life in a dark room day after day threaded the needle for me in terms of wanting to grow in this craft. I didn’t shoot professionally for a long time after graduation but a career in it eventually found me.

Tell us about a moment in your career you wish you could bottle, when you knew you got it right.

Getting to shoot Chris Stapleton was a highlight. I took him into the back of his rehearsal space behind a massive shelving unit, to shoot a portrait because the lighting back there was so unique and beautiful. He was so kind and available to it, though he told me he’d never had a photo taken back there, behind the instruments, and it turned out to be a photo used in the spread. I loved that moment because as an artist you have to commit to your vision even if it may seem out of place to others in the moment. To dedicate yourself to your art is to dedicate yourself to your ideas.

What does the spirit of the West mean to you?

I moved from the southeast to the west coast and immediately I felt varied parts of myself come together. There is an innate freedom I feel here to be and do whatever calls. The landscape is ever inspiring, and the people seem to communicate on a different frequency. There’s no need for one. The way the hills meet the ocean does something to my psyche, and I continue to find new ways to explore the beauty this place holds.   

What inspires you most right now?

My children inspire me to no end. They are both so different in how they see and experience the world. Getting to run around with them and shoot their discoveries is by far my favorite thing to do. 

A ritual, habit, or superstition you’ve picked up along the way?

I don’t look at photographs I’ve been commissioned to do right away. I always wait a day or two. I seem to have more objectivity and less emotional reaction when I do that. I let a shoot breathe for a couple days before diving in to edit. The stress of planning and shooting has dispersed and a new canvas awaits on which to begin.

What are you chasing next?

More work life balance! My littles are growing so fast. Trying to be here for each and every second possible as witness to their young lives is a primary endeavor. But in addition: a solo exhibit is also in the very near future. 

If you could have a campfire conversation with anyone, who would it be?

God. And Dolly.

Quickfire

Early mornings or late nights?

Late nights.

Ocean or mountains?

Both. We’re in California! We can say both!

Silence or music?

Music always.

Neat or on the rocks?

Dry…