Sendy

Sendy Santamaria, Oakland, June 2021. "My name is Sendy, I am a queer Xicana illustrator from San Diego based in Oakland. I am inspired by migration, perseverance, pigeons and love."

Sendy reached out to me because they wanted a professional portrait for their portfolio. Sendy was a pleasure to spend time with and is a very talented artist too, check out Sendy's work: www.sendysantamaria.com

Artist Portrait of Jules Kobelin

Jules Kobelin, Berkeley, 2021

Shannon & The Clams

So happy that Shannon & the Clams announced their new album, "Year of the Spider" and first single, "Midnight Wine".

Back in March I was able to make art with them all in person one wonderful sunny afternoon. I remember asking Shannon what "Year of the Spider" was about and she essentially told me this, “I am terrified of spiders,” says Shannon Shaw. “My mom always told me that they’re drawn to me. Like, they would drop down and dangle in my face as a baby, or they’d get in my bed.” You can read more about this on their website.

This is one of a bunch of different set ups we made together that day, Shannon's brother Paddy was also a dream of a photo assistant and it felt so good just being around good people creating art just to create.

Thanks Shannon & the Clams, I'm honored we were able to work together and can't wait to hear the whole album. I also learned yesterday that Shannon watercolored the images of the band on the cover, what a multi talented human. You can read more of the story about this upcoming release and pre order the record from their website shannonandtheclams.com

Big thanks to Nick Fancher for always inspiring me too, this shoot happened when my brain was fresh off of watching his “Creative Portrait pt. 2” tutorial which can be found on his website nickfancher.com

BFF.fm DJ Interview

I’ve really been enjoying curating music every week for The Infinite Kaleidoscope radio show on BFF.fm. The owner of the station, Amanda, recently asked me some questions about music and my life, which if you are curious, can read here.

Dexter

Dexter, March 2021. I've known and created images with this human for many years and it felt so good to see Dexter and make these together one Spring afternoon in the backyard.

REVOLVER SPRING 21 X EVANESCENCE

In June of 2014, I packed up the car from my home of The Bay Area, and moved to Los Angeles in hopes of being a music photographer. A novel can be written about my brief time there. I met both wonderful and terrible people. I created some amazing art and was the most poor I’ve ever been in my life. I experienced and photographed live music at venues I only read about or saw on music documentaries.

It has always been a dream of mine to have a magazine cover in a music magazine and when REVOLVER reached out to me to photograph Evanescence for their Spring cover, I felt all kinds of emotions. I’ve assisted my mentor and friend Nick Fancher on two different cover photo shoots for them in the past and always dreamed of doing my own work for them too.

It took a global pandemic and loss of work to find time to explore and experiment with photography. I started doing virtual art photos in May as a way of reconnecting with people. I had no idea that I would end up meeting and creating with humans of all ages and backgrounds from all over the world.

I am honored that I got to meet Amy Lee of Evanescence this way. We had an hour in February where we not only connected about the last year, but we talked about how it feels being creative women. I’m really pleased with how the covers and feature turned out, these images were Amy Lee, a virtual meeting, a projector, flowers, crystals and me.

I am a music photographer and can’t wait to create with more wonderful musicians for the rest of my life.

New Monthly Newsletter: "Kristin's Kaleidoscope"

Hello friends, this Saturday on the Spring Equinox I will be launching my monthly newsletter: “Kristin’s Kaleidoscope”, which you can sign up for here. In my effort to spend less time on social media I wanted a space to share with you all the creative things I’ve been up to.

Recent virtual art explorations with a computer monitor, water, flowers, oil and water, 2021.

The Infinite Kaleidoscope

I joined a San Francisco independent radio station, BFF.fm for a weekly two hour radio show, “The Infinite Kaleidoscope”. Every Wednesday from 4-6 PST, I explore different themes with music from people I’ve worked with and beyond. Check it out!

Alex Oneil Album Cover, "C'Mon"

When Alex reached out to me to design a cover for his new single it had been over ten years since we had last been in contact with each other. In 2006 I did the photography and graphic design for his then San Francisco band called The Red Verse on Tricycle Records.

I love how this turned out and Alex’s song, “C’Mon” is good too, turn it up! I was also pleased to find that this single and the album from 2006, “No Chance For Romance” is now on all the music streaming platforms. Listening to it brought back many memories of being a woman in her 20s who was so excited about art and life. It was a good lesson for me to feel the energy and remember that person. I’ve been doing this work for a long time (and hope to always work with wonderful musicians). Thank you Alex and I wish you much continued success with your projects and life.

"Past Life" Podcast Interview with Chaz Costello

At the beginning of October I was interviewed by friend and musician Chaz Costello for his new podcast “Past Life”. I’ve never been interviewed for a podcast before and it was a really good experience. I giggle and say “like” a lot while telling my photography story.

You can check it out at Chaz’s Patreon page, where he is putting out the good art work. My message to Chaz is that you can be both an artist and have a day job. Thank you Chaz for listening to my story, I enjoyed talking to you and a lately I’ve been having dreams about playing the trumpet again.

BFF.fm B-Side Dreams with Jaime B

On Halloween morning I had the pleasure of being a guest on my friend and fellow photographer Jaime B’s BFF.fm radio show, “B-Side Dreams”. I put together a playlist of friends and collaborators who put out music during 2020.

It was a wonderful morning watching the sun rise over The Bay Bridge while sitting with Jaime B at The Ferry Building. I played some music that I love and also took some portraits of Jaime B doing her DJ thing. It was really fun and we ended the show with a really good cup of coffee from Blue Bottle, which happens to be right next door to the BFF.fm booth. Thank you for having me Jaime B, I’d love to do this again sometime with you! If you want to listen to any of the songs from this day, check out the show here!

Chelsea Wolfe's, "In Heaven"

Chelsea Wolfe’s, “In Heaven”, October 2020. I will forever love making art with Chelsea Wolfe, she encourages me to create and grow as an artist. This footage was created through zoom, the effects are from crystals and other materials. Chelsea covered David Lynch’s “In Heaven” and this is how it all came together. I feel so much gratitude to be able to experiment and create during this dark time, thank you Chelsea.

Virtual Art with Australian musician Tori Forsyth

It was wonderful meeting Australian musician Tori Forsyth back in May for a virtual art session. She ended up using one of the images as the art for her cover of ‘Falling Down’, originally released by US rappers Lil Peep and XXXTENTACION.

Tori explains the story behind the songs creation, “Recording a Lil Peep song is something completely out of my comfort zone but as Covid19 would have it, this is a theme of the year. Myself Zach (Band Member/Producer on the track) and Reece (Band Member) all contributed from corners of the country and globe to bring this to life. My first engineering experience was done in my bedroom closet and a lot of make shift swaps.”

You can listen to her song here, these virtual art photo shoots have connected me with artists from around the world and for that I am grateful.

Aura X SF Marin Food Bank

Porch portraits from my recent collaboration with Aura and the SF Marin Food Bank. “Aura recently brought our San Francisco Bay Area Community together to make powerful memories through our Photos for Food Challenge. In exchange for donating to the San Francisco Marin Food Bank, we gifted donors porch portraits taken by professional photographers. Both Aura and the Food Bank matched donations. The result? Together we raised $43,016, providing 86,032 meals to local families in need!“ Thank you for having me Aura, I really enjoyed meeting everyone and hearing their stories.

Reese and Willie Mae, Oakland, June 2020

VUM's "Wild Enclosures" EP

Visit VUM’s Bandcamp now to hear Wild Enclosures, their 2nd EP and 8th release on Secret Lodge Recordings. Listen Now. Tracks include Living Things, Golden Hour, The Whip, and a cover of the Scientists' Hell Beach. Virtual Photo by me!

NRVS LVRS, "Cult Lite"

Way back in December (which feels like a lifetime ago) I created with San Francisco duo NRVS LVRS. Their album has arrived into the world. All proceeds from this EP will go to SF's TGI Justice Project, a nonprofit that features programs to assist incarcerated and at-risk transgender and gender-variant people.

NRVS LVRS will be premiering the record at this month's Star Crash, a monthly synth pop celebration hosted by Vice Reine's Remi X. Device and April Gee of Containher. Proceeds from the event's livestream will help DNA Lounge stay afloat until it's safe to gather again.

Virtual Portraits with Chelsea Wolfe

My longtime friend and collaborator Chelsea Wolfe and I spent some virtual time together last night with a projector and crystals. Grateful for her. May, 2020.

Socially Distanced Portraits- East Bay Edition

Recently I took some socially distanced portraits for the Bold Italic of people in the East Bay.

Socially Distanced Portaits of San Franciscans

Recently I took some socially distanced portraits of San Franciscans for The Bold Italic.

Shannon Shaw

I really enjoyed spending time and creating images with Oakland based musician Shannon Shaw.