Kimberly Schneider was born in Chicago, in 1977.  As a teen, she was always taking photos, but it wasn't until she started working for a photographer in 1999, that she decided to make photography a career choice. She graduated from Colorado State University in 2002, with a BFA in photography (and minor in philosophy); she has been based in New York City for the bulk of the past 15 years.

Kimberly lives and breathes photography, and is truly dedicated to the art of the handmade print. She not only prints all of her own work by hand, but also recently launched her own gelatin silver printing business, in late September of this year. 

Her work has been exhibited at many galleries and related venues, including The Camera Obscura Gallery, Viewpoint Gallery, San Diego Art Institute ("Museum of the Living Artist"), Scott Nichols Gallery, Art Intersection, and Gallery Revival, among others, and she continues to show work regularly.

Kimberly’s work received an Rfotofolio Choice Award, via the INPrint Competition in 2016, Honorable Mention via The Moscow International Foto Awards in 2014, and an Award of Merit from the International Fine Art Photography Competition in 2012. Her work was also selected for the Fifth Annual Exposure Award via See Me in 2015; as a result, her work was included in both the resulting Nature book, as well as exhibited, via digital display, during the awards presentation, at the Louvre.

photos: Karen Vierbuchen // words: Kimberly Schneider

I am drawn to desolate land and seascapes. For me, making images is a meditation of sorts, a search for truth.

While I am intrigued by the formal qualities of the areas I photograph, there’s something about shooting in the land/by the sea, which releases my innermost thoughts and transfers them to my photographs.

My process is a huge part of who I am as a photographer. I make all of my images on black and white film, primarily infrared. I appreciate the way that infrared film seems to turn the world inside out, as well as its unique ability to expose what the naked eye cannot see. Further, the darkroom is where I learn about the subconscious aspect of my images.

All of my photographs are essentially self-portraits; the more I print, the more I start to see the part of me that was unconsciously exposed, and that revelation is largely what my work is about.

Awakenings: Point Lobos & Beyond

Awakenings began in 2010, when I had the opportunity to stay at Bodie House on Wildcat Hill. Staying in Edward Weston’s former home and shooting in Carmel were life-changing moments for me. I had always dreamed of making photographs where the masters who inspired me made theirs. 

Point Lobos is a place that I deeply connected with and continue to return to. While both phases of the series were made exclusively in California, the bulk of the images have been made at or near Lobos.

Awakenings commenced as a series of paradoxes. Darkness and light, dreams and uncertainty, conflict and accord. However, as the body of work continues to grow, it has become about the undercurrents; the gravitational pull of nature, as well as spirit, which brings these opposites together, and in doing so, uncovers what lies hidden beneath the surface. 

Each phase of the work represents further insights into the work, as well as myself; there is no separation between the two.

This ongoing work is directly related to my Emergence series (2007-2009), which was the first body of work I created after the heartbreaking loss of my mother. 

Cameraless/Experimental work  

I began to make photograms, due to the fact that my current darkroom was not finished prior to the (Covid) shutdown. This is my first foray into cameraless work, but one that I delved deep into, beginning in June of this year and continuing on throughout the summer; despite my darkroom now being set up for traditional silver printing, my experimental work is still ongoing.

Making these images was not only my way of coping with long-term isolation, but is also the first work I was able to make in my current darkroom, after losing my prior darkroom over 3 years ago. 

All of these images were made sans enlarger, utilizing a variety of alternate light sources and materials. This began as a motion study of light, and expanded to eventually include a motion study of certain materials as well. Exposures were made primarily with dripping candles, sparklers, and a firework LED light (multiple exposures were not uncommon).

Printing by hand has always been an essential part of my process (and I'm not exactly sure where my mind went while making some of these images), so I am elated that I not only found a way to make work that met my (tough) standards during these strange times, but that the work continues to inspire me - and will eventually be broken up into a full-blown series.

All of my images are essentially self-portraits, or “natural equivalents.” Whatever is going on in my life has always managed to find its way into my work during my printing process, and that is no different when it comes to making cameraless work.

“Making this ongoing experimental work, not only got me through months of isolation, but truly helped me grow, as an artist - and in ways I had never even imagined.”

Kimberly prints all of her own work, as well as that for clients, by hand. To learn more about her fine art printing services and personal artwork visit kimberlyjschneider.com