About Krista Kahl

I live through my imagination and my camera functions as my third eye.

Having grown up as a gymnast training for the Olympics, I realized at the age of 18 that being an artist was my true destiny.

I got into photography via astronomy trips to Yosemite beginning in 1997. Later, I stumbled upon the infamous group of old school photographers from Monterey and Carmel, California. Here is where I learned precious history and wisdom about photography and was taught classically in those magic darkrooms of my elders. My early influences were the masters of black and white photography and to this day my passion for analog photography has never waned. My athletic upbringing has infiltrated the way I use my camera and that is why I am extremely versatile in my photographic range. I like to capture everything I find interesting. Journalism, portraits, travel, animals, urban landscape...the list is endless. Although I have adapted to the digital world, I still maintain the use of film and a darkroom.

Making portraits is a way of seeing beyond the surface and capturing the aura of the person in front of me, to illuminate the unique quality and personality I see in each person. I stretch the limitations of my vision to ascend beyond the two dimensional plane.

The fine art aspect of my photography is through darkroom chemical work, ink, oil paint and collage. I try to communicate to the viewer the inner dimensions of my world. I do not believe I have one specific vision in my artwork, but a variety of ways in which I see alternative realities through my imagination. The one thing that is always consistent, however, is that I see extensions of perceived realities. Like long afternoon shadows that grow like a creeping vine along a surface, or a bolt of lightning flashing in the rods and cones of my mind's eye, this is what is consistent in my creative process. Everyday objects come alive in certain circumstances, lighting conditions, or time-space places. I see humans or objects in states that correlate to my own experiences or feelings and I project this onto them, expanding on my impulses to give birth to these creations. Through my art I hope to contribute my own unique vision of the human condition and life experience we all share. My goal is simply to communicate the ways in which we are all connected and bring forth the fascinating aspects that make life an eternal wonderment, no matter how trivial or grand. Finding meaning for the inexplicable, to me, seems most effective through creative expression, a place where language has no limits.