I think we all have a photography crush or two. Someone whose work we see in our Instagram feed and know we are going to tap that little heart because we always love their work. Maybe it’s their flawless use of light, their heartwarming subject matter, or their unique compositions, but in our eyes, they are the artists who do no wrong. The photographers we hope to be when we grow up.
For me, that is Kara Orwig.
A hobbyist, Kara works under the name of June and Bear Photography. Perhaps it is that she is not driven by the need to gain clients or followers that makes her photos so refreshing, but her work is so unapologetically full of real emotion and daring choices that I always take notice when she shares something new with the world.
At the center of Kara’s work are her two children, and they are the reason that she picked up a camera in the first place. Driven by that maternal desire to stop time for a fraction of a second, to bottle memories in a 4×6 rectangle, she dedicated herself to learning the art of picture taking. But just as it happened for so many of us who find ourselves behind the camera, Kara found that this hobby served her as an individual as much as it served her children. It became a creative outlet and a means of expression and a way to challenge herself.
So it is at that intersection that Kara defines her “favorite” images of 2015; the place where authentically documenting her children as well as feeding her artistic soul collide. While she finds herself inspired by light, location, and connections, she strives above all else to document her kids’ unique experiences of childhood. And every once in a while, all of those things rush together in one frame. And it seems that Kara and her camera never miss those moments.
