About
Katie Fenske was born with a collector’s heart on Halloween in 1980 in Greenville, South Carolina. Despite not developing a particularly loving relationship with her hometown, she established roots in the form of a home with her husband and child. In an attempt to turn apathy for Greenville into something more like enthusiasm, Fenske accidentally developed a photography practice by routinely exploring the area by car with her camera phone ready to capture anything that interested or delighted her—often a silly lawn ornament or chink of gold light on a building face. The passing practice turned to active compulsion when Fenske separated from her husband in 2016. Fenske spent the unfamiliar child-free time on weekends meandering all over upstate South Carolina, this time with the Canon 6D camera rig she’d been using to take family portraits. By the time Fenske and her husband reconciled in 2019, she had collected thousands of images and a few opportunities to exhibit the work that shows she has in fact developed a love for Greenville.
Artist Statement
I am a self-taught landscape photographer and artist living and working in Upstate South Carolina. When I say I “take” images, I mean I hunt and gather them the way I would a shark’s tooth or interesting shell from the beach, a child’s lost matchbox car from a curbside, or an unusual rock from a footpath. I’m impressed by the ordinary and motivated by the fact there is always something out there waiting for me to find it; therefore, I continue to seek out spaces where I know there is a front lawn recently vacated by someone going about business as usual or a family gathered for recreation. If none are to be found, there’s always a waking or fading sun to provide a moment worth keeping.