Meet Carolyn Rauen | Travel Photographer & Occupational Therapist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Carolyn Rauen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Carolyn, why did you pursue a creative career?
I was always a person who had and enjoyed an artistic outlet. I started oil painting in the 7th and 8th grade. After I had my children, it became harder to oil paint. I bought a good camera and started to take pictures of my boys and the landscapes at our farm. My oil paintings were always landscapes with an impressionistic feel. That was 14 years ago when I bought my first good camera. Over the years our family has enjoyed going on different National Park trips. I had always loved traveling as a child with my family and have continued that with my boys. We love hiking and being outside. The beautiful places we visited inspired me artistically to photograph them. I always felt like the photograph never looked as vivid as the image I experienced. I then decided to start to develop my editing skills, so my pictures better reflected what I had witnessed. I then started to make note cards with my images. I gave them as gifts and soon people I worked with, and family expressed an interest in purchasing them. I started to make a calendar each year that these same people would express interest in purchasing. It then progressed to selling prints and other products. I found that the beauty I was experiencing and felt so blessed to witness just filled and set my soul on fire. I loved to share these experiences with others. I am an Occupational Therapist in a hospital and many of my patients had traveled to National Parks but no longer could travel. During treatment sessions it was always a great way to help the patients focus less on the hard work they were doing and make the time pass. I learned so much more from them than they from me with their wonderful stories of their adventures. I would sometimes pull up photographs I had taken on my phone, and you could see the memories flood back from their travels. I felt a calling to share the love I had for Nature and our National Parks with others who could no longer experience them or those who had never witnessed their beauty. It was during COVID when I was an ICU and Acute Care COVID Occupational Therapist that Nature became my therapy and escape even more so. It was a solo trip at that time to Grand Teton National Park that started my work being shared and sold on a much broader level. COVID for me was such a difficult time with my work in the hospital but out of this hardship came such beauty and blessings beyond what I could have imagined. This then led to other solo photography trips and me selling my work last summer in Yellowstone National Park for their 150th anniversary as a featured artist. Truly I can’t believe how fortunate I am that something I love so much has developed to a place where I get to share my love of the parks and nature on such a large scale. I have followed my passion and heart. Out of this passion and lots of hours of hard work a world I never could have imagined has opened up to me.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I watched so many people suffer as an Occupational Therapist in the ICU during COVID but out of their suffering were stories of courage and fighting for what is truly important in life. The little things like the ability to hug your children again and stand up to walk with your spouse. As a therapist I got the privilege to fight with these people to get their lives back. Some did not make it and I carry their stories and fight with me too. It is through this suffering that I realized that I wanted to fight and do more of what inspired me which was getting out in Nature and sharing my passion for our National Parks. COVID taught me that life is fragile and short. I want to do more of what sets my soul on fire. I developed my own website which was not easy for someone who is not tech savvy. I started a National Park group on Facebook and a Natures Edge Photography page on Facebook / Instagram. I began putting my work and passion out there for the world to see. I love to share my images with some of my favorite quotes and try to do this multiple times a week. This not only brings joy to my day, but I often get messages through my pages about the joy and memories the images bring to others. It is on a weekly basis now that I get messages from people across the country about purchasing a print or product from Natures Edge Photography. For me Natures Edge Photography is not about making a profit at all it is about sharing my love and passion for the outdoors with others. It is my purpose to bring joy to others through nature. Joy through what is simple and pure in life in a very busy and stimulating world we live in.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
When It comes to Travel Photography you can’t go wrong getting out in your local City, State, or National Parks. A walk outside can renew your mindset. I live in Eastern Iowa along the Mississippi River. Even in the dead of winter I try to get outside and snowshoe our farm on a snowy day and enjoy the beauty of fresh fallen snow. In the summer you will find me on the Heritage Trail outside of Dubuque riding my bike or enjoying a glass of wine and wood fire pizza at Park Farm Winery in Bankston Iowa. Park Farm winery is up the road from our family farm and has a beautiful view from its top floor observatory. I sell some of my prints in their tasting room. The 4^th Street Historical Elevator with a beautiful view of the City of Dubuque and Mississippi River and Eagle Point Park with great views of the Mississippi River and Tri State view of Illinois, Iowa & Wisconsin.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My coworkers at Unity Point Finley Hospital who have always supported and encouraged me to follow my dreams.
Nichelle Grosvenor with Xanterra Retail at Yellowstone National Park took a phone call from a girl in Iowa who loved Yellowstone and had a dream about sharing her work there. She helped make this happen by telling me about the Inspired By Yellowstone Program and encouraging me to come out and do solo trip to photograph the park for more material.

My parents for all the trips as kids in a pickup truck with a topper exploring the US and getting us out in nature.

My Dad who is going on almost 80 years old, for taking my boys and myself to Yellowstone National Park this past summer. He made the trip so memorable for my boys while I sold my work there. It was a trip of a lifetime including being in the park during the terrible 1 in 500-year flooding. These are memories they will never forget with their Grandpa. He was the calm in the storm as usual.

Website: www.naturesedgephotography.org

Instagram: natures_edge_photography

Linkedin: Carolyn Rauen OTR/L CLT, Photographer / Artist

Facebook: Natures Edge Photography

Youtube: Carolyn Rauen | Natures Edge Photography @naturesedgephotography

Image Credits
All Images are Natures Edge Photography / Carolyn Rauen OTR/L CLT