Meet Kristina Bozanich of Bozanich Photography. Nonahood News snagged an interview with Bozanich after the striking photos in her submission enchanted us. Below, get to know our August artist and how she developed such a mesmerizing style as a photographer.

Nonahood News: What drove you to become a photographer?

Kristina Bozanich: Honestly, a photographer was never on my list of things to become, but I simply fell in love with it as I fell deeper into the field. When I was on the career path to be a scientist, I often captured wildlife and landscapes just to show what beauty I was seeing and to share with the world. Besides nature, I began diving into the art of capturing actual people. I started to study the art and learn the techniques a bit more closely as life went on. It was working with people of different backgrounds and origins that made the process fun! I continued this hobby for a number of years until I sat down with myself and thought, “No, I really can do this as a living. I am going to give it a try and go full-time.”

NHN: When did you realize photography was your passion?

KB: Over the years, I have had a number of random positions (student, customer service rep, and school teacher). Through all of these positions, photography (and makeup) was the consistent hobby that I had going on the side. It was always a lot of work but fun to play with new techniques, products, and meet interesting people.

NHN: How often do you find yourself shooting?

KB: With the virus, things have really slowed down, of course. Right now, I am scheduling creative shoots about every week to bring new content to my site and show the world, “Hey, I’m still here!” I am booking at least two months in advance for some of these sessions to make sure we have a date set.

With more normalcy, I would spend at least 5-10 hours a week shooting, and the rest of the work week post-processing the photos. For myself, I minimally spend an hour or two a week capturing the sunsets in my own neighborhood and photographing life at home with my family.

NHN: How long did it take you to discover yourself and your style as a photographer?

KB: First, to just discover that I was a “photographer” and tell people, that took a few years! I did not classify myself that advanced for quite some time until I realized that my work deserved the title. In terms of my style, that took the longest to discover and develop. I would like to say I was getting the techniques down for the first two years and slowly advanced my style for another three years after that. It was in the last year and a half that I really narrowed down what makes my work mine. In making something worthy of Bozanich Photography, it must fit my color theory, perspective, and focus points. If makeup is included in my shot, it must be crisp, catching, and refined.

NHN: Which of your projects would you consider to be your favorites? (Pick a top three.)

KB:

1. Autism Infinity Project: A client in Seattle, Peyton Justine, is a neuro-diverse actress, model, and YouTuber who hired me for a special project last year. She is a spokesperson and educator on autism and wanted to bring the autism infinity symbol to life! I brought her vision together in makeup and imagery, which she and her audience loved. I felt so honored to help bring the meaning of this project to life for World Autism Acceptance Day!
2. Winthrop Wedding: This wedding was unlike any other and with such a beautiful couple! Crystal and Travis hired me for their rural wedding situated in the valley of mountains in a yurt in Washington. Their bride and groom portraits could not have come out any better! And to bring the experience altogether, there was a special sign in one of their photos that they took to heart from a dear friend who had passed away that year.
3. Sunset Project with Catherine DiSpigno: In collaboration with a local salon, my model, Catherine, dyed her entire head into a sunset cascade! The salon owner and I worked together on creating a theme – coordinating between his work on her hair and the vision I had for the makeup. In the end, the images came out awesome with light leaks and abstract art!

NHN: Which of your projects were the most time-consuming/challenging and why?

KB: My creative sessions are absolutely the most time consuming! Typically, the session itself is at least four hours on the day of. It takes about an hour for setup and breakdown of equipment, one to two hours (at least) for makeup that I do to transform the client, and at least an hour of shooting (not including if we move locations). Afterwards, I spend anywhere from 5-10 hours picking the best photos, retouching every detail, and choosing what artistic flow each photo should have. Sometimes, I completely edit an image and decide the style is not right and have to start over again to get it right.

NHN: What are some of your dream projects?

KB: A full crew team – hair stylists, designers, models, project manager, and specialists – all to complete the scene. I would love to be hired for a project on the outskirts of civilization to photograph a modern fantasy in a wild setting. This is the big dream!

On a more local level, I have this idea of using high quality magazine-style images to renovate the branding of an established business. It would be awesome to become part of a project that revitalizes its appearance so that when people view the images, they think, “Whoa! That’s a whole new look!”

NHN: What serves as your inspiration on a day-to-day basis?

KB: There are certain artists that inspire me often – Bella Kotak (a fine art photographer), Vlada Haggerty (a makeup artist famous for lip art), and Art Wolfe (a National Geographic photographer). A not-as-well-known photographer that has always moved me for his editing style is Chris Rona Photography (in Washington state). I admire and study many artists, for which I consider when developing my own techniques for my artistic process. However, the true vision in the time of pure creation mostly comes from playing (with makeup, lights, wardrobe, etc.), seeing something in a movie or magazine, or just emulating a vision in my head in front of me.

NHN: Future goals/plans?

KB: As a business, my goals are to organically grow in my local area while supporting people and businesses around me. I want to develop supportive relationships with more designers, hair stylists, venues, etc., so that we can all work together to create beautiful imagery!

My personal goal is very simple. I merely want to soak in every moment that I create with my one-year-old. My time at home has been precious and with him growing so fast, I just want to preserve every memory (whether that is in my head or with a camera!).

Photos Courtesy of Kristina Bozanich