Artist Spotlight - Karen Safer — Contemporary Art Curator Magazine

Biography

Karen Safer is an international, award-winning California photographic artist, writer and poet. As a native Angelino, she was given a camera and crayons at 3 and exposed to dominant California motifs: light, palm trees, the ocean, music and vernacular architecture that helped define and influence her left-handed aesthetic.

Alley Rambla, 2024, Photography, 61 x 81 cm

Fortunate to begin a life of travel as a pre-teen, it shaped her love of the exotic, accidental and unusual that jiggled the lens/frame of her eye; subsequently she has traveled and photographed in over 230 countries and territories. She was influenced by her dad who developed black & white photos in their back washroom/turned darkroom and by her mother’s thirst for knowledge and travel.

Café Jade Paris, 2024, Photography, 81 x 61 cm

She has a master’s degree in art, a career in design and architecture and is principle of ArtFocus International. She's been in 12 solo shows, exhibited in over 500+ international/national venues, received over 410+ awards, is in private collections, featured in over 100 publications including Who’s Who In Professional Women and is a self-described “romantic soul” with intellectual cravings living in a digital world.

Double Pei Arch, 2024, Photography, 61 x 81 cm

She has been honored with ReFocus and Exposure One B& Awards, National Photographic Society Awards, Julia Margaret Cameron FotoNostrum Awards, B&W Spider Awards, Botticelli International Prize (Florence), International COLOR awards; featured in Dodho, Docu, LENS, Women United, Spotlight, ArtTour and Artist Talk Magazine, The Holy Art, etc.; and continues exhibiting in Amsterdam, Athens, Budapest, Barcelona, Paris, London, Glasgow, Rome, Berlin, Basel, Dubai, Venice, Sao Paulo, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, etc. from California to to NY, member of IAA-USA, LA Art Association, LA Center for Photography, etc.

Eloise Exits Bar du Marché, 2024, Photography, 81 x 61 cm

Artist Statement

I am a native Angelino who has always been an artist - given camera & crayons at 3 and exposed to California motifs: light, trees, ocean, music & architecture that defined my left-handed aesthetic. I was influenced by my dad’s photographic ability (he developed B&W photos in back washroom) and my mother’s thirst for knowledge and travel. I began taking pictures in youth, studied painting and developed black & white photos in college.

Gaudi Reflection, 2024, Photography, 61 x 81 cm

I am a student of the universe who dances around a subject and has taken in EVERY artistic and musical influence in the world around me - from ancient Assyria to Vermeer/Van Gogh - Atget to Cindy Sherman. I embrace the natural and urban environments, drink in color but venerate black and white. I am a citizen of the world, a “romantic soul” with intellectual cravings now living in a Digital World.

Glorious Gaudi, 2024, Photography, 61 x 81 cm

My eye is always scanning and composing frames. Some people say you miss the world if behind the camera, but I think you see MORE because you are always looking.
Motos: "A photographer has the whole world big or small to capture." kj safer
Wherever I am in the world, is my favorite place! kj safer

www.artfocusin.com

@kjsafer2