kenpaprocki's photostream  

I bought my first professional camera when I was 13 years old, a Nikon FE. I used money saved from my paper route and was the only 7th Grader in Columbus, Nebraska (pop. 18,000) snapping images with a 35mm. I never stopped taking pictures.

It just took a few years – about 25 – to decide that I should make money from photography. When I did pursue it as a career I was able to bring a great wealth of life experience to my work.

My upbringing in a small pink ranch house on the barren plains had given me terminal Wanderlust. As a kid I dreamt of exploring the world past the cornfields, endless sky and surrounding flatness punctuated by pointy black church steeples. After high school I made my dreams came true. I was an exchange student to Frankfurt, Germany for a year. I studied my Junior Year abroad in Padova, Italy. I received 2 Bachelor’s Degrees - Political Science and Italian – from the University of California at Santa Barbara. I taught English in Seville and Jerez, Spain 2 years. I received a Master’s Degree in International Relations from George Washington University in Washington DC.

In 1993 I moved to New York City. I worked at the UN, then in advertising, then flew around the world for four years as an international flight attendant. I took my first step towards professional photography in 2003 when I was living in Cape Town and working for a non-profit, taking pictures of township children. Some of my images were published in the 2005 UN biennial Youth Report.

In 2006 I worked aboard Circle Line’s World Yacht as a photographer. While the ship cruised around Manhattan for 3 hours I took pictures of tourists. Though one of the hardest jobs I’ve ever had, the gained experience was invaluable. In the fall of 2006 I spent 2 months in Afghanistan as an embedded photojournalist. I wired images to SIPA and Polaris photo agencies.

My fluency in German, Italian, Spanish and French, as well as my experience of working with a wide range of people – from UN diplomats to townships kids to passengers at 35,000 feet – have been very useful in my photography. When not on assignment I shoot portraits, events and products. It is, however, capturing people and their situations that are closest to my heart.