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Melissa Starker, Creative Content & PR Manager
Dec 04, 2019
Columbus photographer Kate Sweeney has had an assortment of exceptional humans step in front of her camera, including ceramicist Lalese Stamps, Insta-star @SnackinCbus, and several artists who've appeared at the Wex, like Columbus native Dane Terry and Artist Residency Award winner Sharon Udoh (her Residency project, a tribute to Aretha Franklin, is coming in February).
Sweeney also handled the promotional photos for this weekend's world premiere run of FluxFlow Dance Project's Ursula, so it seemed an opportune moment to ask the artist about her work. Vibrantly hued and often disarming, Sweeney's portraits feel at once performative and perfectly natural, intense yet easy. Her thoughts are below.
What do you like about portrait work? What I like about portrait work is the connectivity it’s able to communicate. And that connection is unique to the camera, to me, to the subject, to each viewer. It’s subjective but shared. I think being human is the most overwhelmingly beautiful thing. I’m a portrait photographer because that’s how I’m able to relate to the world around me, and in my portraits I hope to capture a strength in vulnerable honesty.
How does your process begin? My process for each subject is pretty synergetic and relaxed. I tend to not plan many details of the shoot because my work thrives in the freedom of the moment. And that also allows the experience to stay malleable and move organically. My goal is to capture something magical about someone and who they are, and for me that tends to be the most successful when the subject and I can inspire each other through a collaborative effort. I feel successful when my subjects feel empowered in being seen. There’s a lot of vulnerability and strength that comes with letting someone quickly get to know you and photograph you. So I carry a great deal of gratitude for my subjects.
How did the look and feel of the Ursula pictures come together? That was such a fun and wild shoot. Russell [Lepley], Filippo [Pelacchi, cofounder of FluxFlow with Lepley], and I had discussed a few minor details beforehand, but we mostly thought of things together on the spot that day. We wanted to focus on the characters of the bear and monkey and were very visually drawn to the circus aspect. We had a few circus-y props (a unicycle, balloons, bubbles), a bright pink backdrop, and the costumes, yet we still wanted the monkey/bear to stand out from everything. Russell really got into character and was super expressive in each role.
At one point, Russell was balancing on a unicycle with a bunch of balloons in hand, and Filippo was blowing bubbles into the frame. I think we ended the shoot with Russell screaming like a monkey, perched on an apple box. It was an absolute blast and a complete group effort.
It seems like you and Sharon Udoh have worked together a lot. How would you describe that relationship? I’m humbled by my working relationship with Sharon. We are very close friends outside of our creative collaborations, and I think that sense of trust and connection translates in the photographs. Sharon trusts me because she feels like I see her so accurately through my lens, and I’m blown away by that. The images are strong because Sharon is immediately open to me and gives everything to the art we make together. It’s very rare and special.
Photos of Russell Lepley and Sharon Udoh by Kate Sweeney.
