Fine Art Photography
Beaver Valley based artist, Kathleen Heithorn-Althoff, has been honing her photography skills since acquiring a Pentax K1000 after university, 33 years ago, and travelling the world with it. Kathleen worked at Rabbit Photo in Sydney, Australia, and went on to seek further photography education part-time at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson) at the School of Image Arts. It was there through volunteering for the Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education Annual Photography Exhibit she earned a Dennis Mock award nomination.
Kathleen’s formal arts background includes a degree in Art History/History from Western University. Outside the other mediums she uses, her true inspiration for photography evolved from spending thousands of hours sailing on the Atlantic observing weather, as well as the contrast in the simplicity and complexity that comes from her most passionate subject, the humble flower. All her flower subjects are from experiments in her garden that she cultivates year over year.
Featured Work
In a duo 2024 exhibition at LE Shore Gallery in Thornbury, Ontario, Canada, Kathleen explores nature's elements of earth, water and sky in a series of larger, fine art photographic works.
Kathleen’s photographs seek to find meaning in nature, where she has spent many years observing the earth as a sailor on the Atlantic Ocean, and as a gardener.
Light is often quoted as the key source of all photos. The light that splits horizons, that backlights a cloudy day, shines down on all forms of flora, highlights earth's powerful force, and reflects the movement and patterns of water, have infinite visual definitions.
Subjects that are earth, water, or atmospheric phenomena are presented for you to explore the meaning and fine line of what is often real on a larger scale to what becomes abstract and unknown on a smaller scale. The mystery of form in a conceptual presentation can often take a viewer into a world that may seem unknown, yet can be defined easily in day-to-day observations.
Photography can often be misinterpreted as too literal, and it is through these meaningful works of nature that Kathleen hopes you see her photographs not only as aesthetic possibility but also as opportunity to feel the borders of images blurred from reality, into an abstract depiction of beauty.
Contextually, you may find alternate meaning within each and every image, seeing the fragility of the world that we currently reside in, the very delicate macro elements of nature itself, and the sole importance of water as life-giving.
Instagram: @blossom_country
