Now through the end of August, photographs created by Carol Kahn are on display at the Sedona City Hall, 102 Roadrunner Drive.
Also featured is Nicholas Kirsten Honshin, whose art and poetry are a reflection of the merging of art, science and nature. Meet Kahn and Honshin at their reception Thursday, June 27, from 4 to 6 p.m., in the City Council Chambers. Kahn has been taking photos on and off for 40 years.
She majored in broadcasting and minored in photojournalism at the University of Maryland but instead of taking the photography route, she opted to produce television shows and documentaries. During her career, she has interviewed many well-known public figures including Maya Angelou and 1986 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel. She also interviewed artists Peter Max and LeRoy Neiman, as well as many athletes and celebrities including Sylvester Stallone, Charlize Theron, Sir Ben Kingsley and Bette Midler. She has conducted interviews in studio, on location and on the red carpet.
Kahn moved to Sedona in 2015 and worked with local television. She produced a series called “Art & Soul,” highlighting four Sedona artists including Honshin. She has immersed herself in the arts, conducting interviews for the Sedona International Film Festival and is on the Board of Trustees for the Fine Arts Museum of Sedona. “Interviewing people is my forte. I feel honored and privileged to be sharing their stories and doing that here in Sedona,” she said.
Over the last several years, Kahn’s photography has shifted from landscapes and scenery to more close-ups of nature. Kahn began taking photos of the inside of flowers, seeing colors and patterns she had never seen before. More recently, she began photographing water, studying its movement and its reflection of color. It caused her to see things in an abstract form and changed her perspective. Her work is continually evolving. The photos she takes are not manipulated other than tweaking to adjust the light.
“To quote Henry David Thoreau, ‘The world is but canvas to our imagination,’” Kahn said. “The camera is my paintbrush as I capture a brief moment in time. I tend to spend hours being in nature, marveling at life itself. I like finding the unusual, the abstractness of life — whether it’s a reflection in water, the inside of a flower, veins in a rock, the patterns of bark on a tree or just color and light — time seems to stand still when I hold my camera in my hand. My adrenaline pumps, my heart beats faster, I enter into the artist’s zone and the euphoric dance with nature and light begins. In my mind’s eye, my photographs are visually composed before I even press down on the shutter release button to take the shot. There seems to be an energy exchange between nature and myself. As John Muir once said, ‘In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.’ I can certainly attest to that.”
Her body of work exhibited at the Sedona City Hall showcases a series of reflections in water, rust on old vehicles, the inside of a kaleidoscope and just nature itself. What these photos represent is art in nature. Each picture looks more like a painting than a photograph. Photography is her passion and the closest thing that makes her heart sing.
“The moment I attended the ‘Art & Soul’ series, which Carol beautifully created, was when I learned about her special gift for telling peoples stories,” arts and culture coordinator Nancy Lattanzi said. “It was wonderful to discover much more about four prominent Sedona artists and their work, as well as see inside their studios.
When I saw the body of work she created as she began to dive deeper into her photography skills, I immediately invited her to show her Reflections series at City Hall, which is a close look at many interesting colors and patterns she sees. This exhibit is a beautiful pairing with Nicholas Honshin’s work, whose theme is also the connection with art and nature through painting.
“I hope the community makes time to visit and view this wonderful new exhibit. This is my very first public exhibition, and I am grateful to Nancy and the city for encouraging me to display my work,” Kahn said. “It challenged me to produce a body of work with confidence.”
The City Hall Art Rotation exhibits are located in the Council Chambers and the gallery in the Vultee conference room on the city campus at 102 Roadrunner Drive. To make an appointment for best viewing times, contact Lattanzi at 203-5078 or nlattanzi@sedonaaz.gov.
