Kristyn Russell

Website:

https://kirstynrussell.com

Biography:

Kirstyn Russell received her BFA from New York University and her MFA from California College of the Arts. In 2007 she received the Cadre Grant to produce 10 images from the series Where We Are Not Known as postcards and mailed them to 75 recipients. The work was reproduced in Capricious Magazine and written about in Make/Shift Magazine. She was a speaker at the Society for Photographic Education conference in San Diego. In 2018 she was part of a major collaboration between San Joaquin Delta College photography and video students, the Stockton Symphony and composer John Wineglass. The final piece was the opener of the Stockton Symphonies Fall season and was named "The Sights and Sounds of Stockton". Kirstyn has taught at San Joaquin Delta College since 2008.

Artist Statement:

I woke up to darkness on the morning of September 9th, 2020. It was already 7:30 am but the room was dark with little light coming in through the curtains. I could hear my family moving around, getting ready to go outside. Usually our mornings are spent sleepily lounging on the couch sipping coffee. I could tell something was off so I quickly got dressed and we all went outside.

We walked outside and into an apocalyptic morning. The sun was gone. I brought my camera to document this unbelievable experience. These are images taken between 7:30 am and noon. As I drove around Oakland, car headlights remained on. I had to use a tripod and my exposures were long. I was wearing two masks and encountered people wearing respirators. I still haven’t recovered from this day.

The rational on the local news was that the wildfire smoke was high up in the atmosphere, filtering the light rays, making for a dramatic sky. Strangely enough the air was not smokey, but there was ash falling so it was hard to believe that the air was safe to breathe. 2020 has brought so many challenges.

The Tungsten light was fascinating and challenging, but what the day actually represents is a wakeup call and terrifying. I process the world through photographs and I am thankful I have these images to remind myself and others how close we are to irreparable damage to our environment. I hope I don’t have another opportunity to photograph a sepia colored day with no sun.

May we move forward and care for each other and the earth better.