Meet Kathy Servian | Fine Art Photographer

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

Hi Kathy, can you talk to us a bit about the social impact of your business?
On an intellectual level, exposure to art, particularly in difficult times, is widely believed to provide cognitive and emotional benefits to individuals and society as explained in the 2004 RAND Corporation study Gifts of the Muse: Reframing the debate about the Benefits of the Arts.

“The artist provides individuals with an imaginative experience that is often a more intense, revealing, and meaningful version of the actual experience. Such an experience can produce pleasure in the sense of deep satisfaction, a category that includes the satisfaction associated with works of art the individual finds deeply unsettling, disorienting, or tragic.” (McCarthy et al, 2004)

On a practical level, I use almost all recycled and repurposed materials purchased from charity shops to create the costumes in my images. I do this to lessen the impact of my work on the environment and to provide financial support to a number of local charities.

reference:

McCarthy, F; Ondaatije, E; Zackaas, L; Brook, A. (2004). Gifts of the muse: Reframing the debate about the benefits of the arts. Rand Corporation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG218.html

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’ve always been creative, it’s as important to me as the air I breathe. For the past thirty years I’ve been studying and working to gather a range of skills and experiences in fashion design and pattern making, creative writing, photography, and digital compositing. These have now all come together in my fine art photographs. A lot of hard work, successes, and failures have led to the place where I can finally share the crazy world that exists inside my head with others.

The main lesson I learnt along the way was to stop second guessing myself and to trust my own creative intuition. It took many years to get to that point, but when I reached it I grew a lot as an artist. I create work that expresses my unique view of the world and I know that not everyone will like or understand it, but that’s okay.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If I was taking a friend around the city of Auckland, New Zealand I would take them to some of the amazing beaches which are within easy reach of the city. Auckland has a wide variety of coastlines from the wild west coast beaches with black sand and huge waves to the beautiful east coast with bay after bay of calm white sand beaches.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My shoutout goes to my models without whom my images would not exist and to my husband whose support enables me to be an artist rather than having to go and get a real job.

Website: https://kathyservian.myportfolio.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kathyservianphotography/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kathyservianphotography

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6Hm-aH6s2s31xyl3lGeJ2g

Image Credits
All images are copyright Kathy Servian. Models: Pip, Samantha, Sam, and Katriel