RSF Photographers: Karolina Karlic

Rosa Parks by Karolina Karlic

I have an enduring interest in the facets of American idealism and the deterioration of those ideals. Frontiers. Trains. Cars. Post-industrial sprawl and desertion. Defunct factory towns. I’ve been known to see majesty in the splay of shopping malls on local highways. It shames me to even say it but it’s true.

Detroit, as it exists in my imagination (I’ve never been there) seems to embody many of these fascinations, plus it boasts proximity to the John Hughes suburbs that seemed so exotic to this city kid. Last Summer I read Middlesex and while I finished it somewhat ambivalent, scenes from it and Eugenides’ descriptions of Detroit’s history have stuck with me.

Jamal by Karolina Karlic

A road trip to Motor City might not be high on my agenda, but I was certainly thrilled and fortunate to have a chance to view it through Karolina Karlic’s lens last week at Review Santa Fe.

It was my 16th review of the day. (I did 18 total that Friday.) I was feeling a little crispy by that point, but I got a second wind when Karolina sat down in front of me with a hefty, gorgeous, simple book. The Dee was beautifully bound and wonderfully paced. There was no shuffling of portfolios or setting up of presentations. We just paged through the photos together. I asked questions, she told stories. It was awesome.

It also just so happened that she’d entered this round of Hey, Hot Shot! (I hadn’t yet had a chance to review her entry when we sat down together, which worked out kind of well in the end.) I’m excited that she’s one of this season’s finalists and will be showing some photos from The Dee at the Spring Edition Showcase, which opens at jen bekman on June 13th.

We Did This by Karolina Karlic