Photo by Andrew Klein 2009

So, I came to photography slowly - always loving it - but first I had to put in a lot of time bringing up two wonderful sons and myself. I had to spend twenty years in Vermont doing all of the back to the land business of weaving and gardening and wood splitting and home restoring and watching my sons grow; it was a real change from my urban Providence upbringing or my later experiences of living in Italy and other locations abroad and extensive traveling. Determination, stamina, survival, and endurance were some of the lessons learned. Along the way, I had some great meals and took some interesting photos too.

The boys eventually went to live in New Mexico - that amazingly beautiful state - to be with their Dad, and I ended up in Boston by way of Turkey. All the while I made my living working in the Travel Industry, www.jbktravel.com. My job as a Travel Consultant took me everywhere and I always had a lousy little camera and a lot of fun with it. Lucky for me, I eventually found and married a wonderful Hungarian painter and moved in with him into an Artist Coop in Boston. We have been married for five exciting years and travel extensively both together and apart. The photos that I had been taking all along during my travels started to really mean something and with his encouragement were becoming serious. I applied myself, took loads of useless classes, read a lot, and shot even more. My husband, who has been photographing for over 50 years encouraged me and disciplined me, challenged me and competed with me. I started to really learn something and to find my own style and signature.

Finally, I had the time to do my own real work - Photography - not just my career, and it has been pure bliss and pleasure and frustration when other parts of life interfere!

The first Photography book I ever owned was The Family of Man by Edward Steichen, and I loved that book. There wasn't one superfluous thing on the page. Everything was tight, I could see that even then. Today my hope is that as I continue to grow photographically, my work will grow ever tighter. Every shot I try to get rid of one more thing. At least I have goals and I have a grand time at this work. I welcome you to my pages.

Namaste - Julie Klein