Kim Kirkpatrick
Encyclopedia
Kim Kirkpatrick is a landscape photographer who lives and works in the Washington, D.C.
area.
Kirkpatrick earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts
from the Corcoran College of Art and Design
and a Master of Fine Arts
from the University of Maryland
. In 1993, the Aaron Siskind Foundation
awarded Kirkpatrick an Individual Photographers Fellowship Grant. Kirkpatrick taught photography as an adjunct member of the faculty at the Corcoran College of Art and Design
and at the Smithsonian Residents Associate Program. He has exhibited his photography in galleries and museums. The musical group Interface used a Kirkpatrick photograph on the cover of their CD "./swank."
Kirkpatrick’s landscape photos focus on construction and industrial zones around Washington D.C. As Kirkpatrick said in a 2001 interview, "I take pictures where nature and man meet, where one is taking over the other". He uses an 8×10 view camera
because, Kirkpatrick said, its high-resolution image, "never falls apart, even when you get closer," adding, "I want the detail that people miss."
Sally Troyer, a D.C. gallery owner, said of Kirkpatrick’s work, “I have never seen work so sensitive to light and color."
Kirkpatrick created a large body of work in five to six years during the 1980s and 1990s that extensively used the photo effect, bokeh
(the effect of light in out-of-focus areas of a photograph). Mike Johnston noted, in reference to bokeh, that Kirkpatrick "made deft use of it as design, as figuration, and as a way to use color abstractly". Mike Johnston further wrote that Kirkpatrick is "the American master of bokeh-aji " and selected Kirkpatrick as one of the 10 best living U.S. photographers.
Kirkpatrick once worked as a postman, and also as a disc jockey on Washington D.C. radio stations including WHFS
and WAMU
. He continues to write and publish music reviews on a blog that he co-directs.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
area.
Kirkpatrick earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts
Bachelor of Fine Arts
In the United States and Canada, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. In some countries such a degree is called a Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA...
from the Corcoran College of Art and Design
Corcoran College of Art and Design
The Corcoran College of Art and Design, , founded in 1890, is the only professional college of art and design in Washington, DC, located in the Downtown area. The school is a private institution in association with the Corcoran Gallery of Art.The Corcoran Gallery of Art is Washington's first and...
and a Master of Fine Arts
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
from the University of Maryland
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
. In 1993, the Aaron Siskind Foundation
Aaron Siskind
Aaron Siskind was an American abstract expressionist photographer. In his biography he wrote that he began his foray into photography when he received a camera for a wedding gift and began taking pictures on his honeymoon. He quickly realized the artistic potential this offered...
awarded Kirkpatrick an Individual Photographers Fellowship Grant. Kirkpatrick taught photography as an adjunct member of the faculty at the Corcoran College of Art and Design
Corcoran College of Art and Design
The Corcoran College of Art and Design, , founded in 1890, is the only professional college of art and design in Washington, DC, located in the Downtown area. The school is a private institution in association with the Corcoran Gallery of Art.The Corcoran Gallery of Art is Washington's first and...
and at the Smithsonian Residents Associate Program. He has exhibited his photography in galleries and museums. The musical group Interface used a Kirkpatrick photograph on the cover of their CD "./swank."
Kirkpatrick’s landscape photos focus on construction and industrial zones around Washington D.C. As Kirkpatrick said in a 2001 interview, "I take pictures where nature and man meet, where one is taking over the other". He uses an 8×10 view camera
View camera
The view camera is a type of camera first developed in the era of the Daguerreotype and still in use today, though with many refinements. It comprises a flexible bellows which forms a light-tight seal between two adjustable standards, one of which holds a lens, and the other a viewfinder or a...
because, Kirkpatrick said, its high-resolution image, "never falls apart, even when you get closer," adding, "I want the detail that people miss."
Sally Troyer, a D.C. gallery owner, said of Kirkpatrick’s work, “I have never seen work so sensitive to light and color."
Kirkpatrick created a large body of work in five to six years during the 1980s and 1990s that extensively used the photo effect, bokeh
Bokeh
In photography, bokeh is the blur, or the aesthetic quality of the blur, in out-of-focus areas of an image, or "the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light."...
(the effect of light in out-of-focus areas of a photograph). Mike Johnston noted, in reference to bokeh, that Kirkpatrick "made deft use of it as design, as figuration, and as a way to use color abstractly". Mike Johnston further wrote that Kirkpatrick is "the American master of bokeh-aji " and selected Kirkpatrick as one of the 10 best living U.S. photographers.
Kirkpatrick once worked as a postman, and also as a disc jockey on Washington D.C. radio stations including WHFS
WHFS
WHFS was the call sign for three different FM stations in the Washington, D.C./Baltimore, Maryland markets on various frequencies for nearly 50 years. The first and longest run was a progressive rock station and was usually, and affectionately, referred to as 'HFS...
and WAMU
WAMU
WAMU is a public radio station that services the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The station broadcasts on 88.5 FM, online at wamu.org, and on HD Radio at 88.5-HD1, 2 and 3. WAMU is on-air 24 hours a day. It is licensed to American University, and its studios are located near the campus...
. He continues to write and publish music reviews on a blog that he co-directs.
Exhibitions
- Strathmore Hall Arts Center
- Maryland Art Place
- Boyden Gallery, St Mary's College of Maryland
- The Print Club, Philadelphia PA
- Troyer Gallery, Washington, D.C.
- Luce de Ombra, Gallery of the CF, Rome, Italy
- Sight Specific, Curator, US Geological Survey
- "More than one way to skin a cat" (group show), January 2006. Salve Regina Gallery, Catholic University, Washington D.C.