Karen Kalou

“Sanity is a cozy lie.” (Susan Sontag)

Bio:
Karen Kalou, born in 1979, is a photographer who is presently living in Montreal, Canada.  She completed a bachelor degree in Women Studies and Human Relations in 2004 from Concordia University.  Few months later, she enrolled in a professional photography program at Dawson’s Institute of Photography. Her work primarily revolves around street, self, and psychological portraiture.  Her portraits are intimate, personal and honest – whether portraits of others or herself, one is able to get a glimpse of who she is and how she sensitively views the world around her. 

Statement:
Photography has a higher purpose in my life.  The camera has almost a mystical omnipresence, one that is not a master of truth but a nomad to discovering life’s little secrets.  It is my intuitive instrument that enables me to make sense of myself and the two worlds I belong to – it is life’s promise ring to me.  Photography drives me places – it challenges my everyday questions on the complexities of love, home and identity.

My fascination with portraiture is not to capture an interesting face – it is simply a way of documenting a person’s story without the fear of feeling too exposed and vulnerable.  I either shoot on the street, personal spaces, or in the studio.  Strangely enough, one of the most interesting spaces is the studio – a secret underworld of no denial or escape.  It is a space that manages to break down barriers and allows the process to go uninterrupted – creating a harmonious, intimate, and intense dynamic between the subject and myself. Music is a great source of inspiration to me – it touches, speaks, and reassures all that may unfold during a shoot. 

Most often than not, I see a lot of myself in the persons that I’ve asked to shoot – whether deliberate or not, my perception, thoughts, and feelings are in fact intertwined during and post production.  Not only do I try to provoke and challenge our notions of vulnerability, but I also try to communicate feelings of homelessness, solitude, and what it means to live and exist in two or more worlds.

 My photographs are the points of arrival.  In visual terms, they are the moments of clarity; be it the complex questions posed or the simple answers realized.