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The NCSSM-Morganton community recently got a chance to hear from a pioneering woman photojournalist of the film era when veteran New York photographer Kathy Kmonicek came to campus to deliver a presentation at the opening of her photo exhibit in Goodwin Hall.
Kmonicek spent more than 30 years in the photojournalism field where she worked at two major New York newspapers and was twice nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for her photos. A full-time freelance career followed, during which she made photos for The New York Times, the Associated Press, and the New York Daily News. She has also taught photography and photojournalism at several universities. For her body of work, Kmonicek was recognized in 2020 by those in her field as a “Trailblazer of Light.”
Though she photographed news events for decades, Kmonicek discovered a passion for landscape and nature photography while photographing at Lake James soon after she and her husband relocated to Morganton in 2017.
“It all started with this one picture that I took of this big, beautiful double rainbow right over the lake,” Kmonicek says. “I wanted to get the fall colors around the lake, and I hiked up to one of the highest points that I could to get a panoramic view of the lake. It had been raining, and then the sun came out and, oh my gosh, you know? In my other career I had been just so busy that I never really had a chance to pay attention to nature and landscape until my husband and I moved here.”
Courtney Long, an instructor of visual arts at NCSSM-Morganton, discovered Kmonicek through the Burke Arts Council while seeking a female artist to coincide with Women’s History Month in March.
“I looked up Kathy’s work, and I was really excited about having her because photojournalism is widely considered a male-dominated field,” Long says. “She has such an amazing portfolio and biography, and I knew she really was just a very strong woman that young people could look up to.”
Sienna Hackshaw, a Bryson City senior who came to NCSSM from Swain County High School, stayed after Kmonicek’s presentation to ask more about her work.
“Her experience as a woman in photography really resonated with me,” Sienna said. “I’ve just started a Digital Photography course, and I find that connecting with others with more experience than me is a great way to obtain insight and motivation. It is so admirable how resilient Ms. Kmonicek is. Her ability to adapt and photograph pretty much anything is impressive and something I hope to achieve.”
Kmonicek hopes she will. “I tried to impress upon them all, don’t give up on your dreams,” she said. “I lost my dream job when I and nearly the entire staff got laid off from my hometown newspaper. But because of that, I ended up getting to do so many other interesting things with photography. So, I just wanted the students to understand that things might not go the way you planned, but you have to keep going. Turn to the right, turn to the left, but keep going.”
Kmonicek’s exhibit will be on display at NCSSM-Morganton through March 22. To see more of her work online, click here.
