photo: Kathleen Dreier
Photographer: Kathleen Dreier
Specialty: Events – weddings, sports, openings, ceremonies
Favorite Subject: People – “everyone has a story”
Kathleen Dreier has been called a “stealth photographer” by one of her clients, which is fitting. “That was actually one of the nicest compliments, in my opinion. My specialty is photographing human events in a way that tells the story – photojournalism, basically. My intention is to use ambient light whenever possible, and not to stage the situation. It’s about capturing people in the moment of doing, as authentically and naturally as possible. I want to blend into the scene, not alter it.”
Dreier is a Wisconsin native who landed in Tucson (via Colorado and California) about six years ago, a single mom with her 14-year-old son. She started working as a photographer relatively recently.
“I’ve had my perfume business since 1991, though” she explains. “Custom designing fragrances for individuals has laid the groundwork for my photography, because to do either thing well you really have to become tuned into the essence of your subject.” In keeping with Dreier’s intuitive aesthetic, her business is called Esens.
“I started my photography career when I got to Tucson, but I’ve always had an interest in photography. My mom used to do the point and shoot stuff to the point of just driving us all nutty. She passed about eight years ago, and the bug really started to develop in me. I think my mom had it right. Her intent was to preserve something of value through images.”
Dreier’s mentors include Bisbee photographer Richard Byrd, whose shots of 1960s rock musicians are being exhibited at Cleveland’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
“I do have a few local professionals who have been very supportive of my development. Richard and I met at a wedding I was shooting in Bisbee and he called me over to him. He’d been watching me work and could see what I was looking at with the ‘photographer’s eye.’”
Whether shooting a wedding, a cycling event or musicians onstage, Dreier’s working style is very physical. “I worked this El Grupo youth cycling event in Phoenix over one weekend, and it was two days of bending, squatting, lifting, twisting, stretching…not to mention a lot of ground being covered on foot,” she laughs. “Photography is a physical sport for me.”
Dreier’s reflections on the events of January 8 in Tucson, when six people lost their lives in the shooting spree at Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ “Congress on Your Corner” gathering, illuminate her passion for photography.
“It’s about being an observer. I want to document events for people and it means being present and awake to people. There’s so much intangible stuff that goes into making a photograph. Capturing people in the moment of what they’re doing; that’s when the magic happens.”
Kathleen Dreier’s work is online at EsensPhotography.smugmug.com and Facebook.com/kathleen.dreier; connect with Dreier at info@esens.com or 245-6711.
