Kate Buggeln

I picked up a camera following a long career in retail and fashion, much of it spent looking at commercial photographer’s images of perfectly beautiful people and places. A different direction called to me.

 

Whether the work is figurative or abstract, my images reflect the inner workings of a reflective heart and a lived life. Some viewers have described my work as spiritual, melancholy or solitary. I just hope they are honest. Imitating the painters and potters I grew up with, I use a highly physical creative process. Many of my abstract images are created by deliberate camera movements at low light times of day and night with my camera settings at play. And sometimes, what appears a painting will emerge. But when the weather, water or place are imperfectly right, often in storm, I am drawn to the figurative possibilities.

 

All my works contain a single digital exposure and while edited, do not use Al. Any distortions are created by camera movement, fabric, fog or reflections caught in water, glass or metal. Self-taught in business, I took the same approach with the camera. My unstudied approach, and impatience with post-production editing has created an instinctual result. For better or worse, it's all me.

 

I live in the magnificent Hudson River Valley, and the towns and natural places it nurtures are an inspirational well, serving me as they have other artists for many generations. The valley is ever in motion, its impermanence a daily, provocative constant to get out of bed, grab the camera and shoot.

 

My photography is always on exhibit and available for purchase at katebuggelnphotography.com and Piermont Flywheel Gallery in Piermont, NY (celebrating its 32nd year), in Nyack Art Collective exhibitions and is regularly shown at regional and New York City shows.

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