BY KAREN BOSSICK
Kirsten Shultz just wants to tell stories, whether as a photojournalist as a wedding photographer.
“Never miss a shot—that’s my big thing,” she said. “It’s fun to be someone else’s eyes. My job is to give those I shoot a memory.”
Shultz hopes she provides memories for others this weekend when she takes part in the Bellevue Artist Alliance Open Studios Tour.
The three-day event kicks off with an Artist Reception from 6 to 8 p.m. at Silver Creek Hotel in Bellevue. It will continue on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 20-21 with an opportunity for the public to visit the artists in their studios from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days.
Shultz has photographed an array of clients, from Company of Fools to a magazine cover for Carole King photographs of Carole Glenn’s ceramics for her coffee table books.
She became enamored with photography as a child of the ‘60s, seeing the images of the Kennedys and the Civil Rights movement in Birmingham, Ala.
“I was fascinated with capturing history as a kid and how photographers captured beauty in some of the darkest of situations. I remember the photograph Elliott Erwitt took of Jackie Kennedy at her husband’s funeral--he produced images that were not only newsworthy and historic, but beautiful. Images that were not only beautiful, but disturbing.
“And, when I saw the images of the police attacks in Birmingham, I was impressed by the way that these photographers could capture history the way they did.”
Camera in hand, an 8-year-old Kirsten Shultz cajoled neighborhood kids into dressing up for the camera.
“We’d pretend to be boxcar children or characters from movies,” she said. “I just wanted to tell stories—to get whatever was in my head out. And somewhere along the way I realized I was better at telling the stories visually than at writing.”
She took her first photography course in high school, and realized that photojournalism could help her depict what she wanted to say. She moved to Idaho 25 years ago, starting off as an advertising photographer for the Idaho Statesman before becoming a stringer for the Associated Press and Twin Falls Times-News.
Her artistic side led her to begin focusing on weddings and photo shoots for the coffee table books her husband Drew Furlong worked on, including “Cristina’s of Sun Valley Cookbook.”
“My art work is fueled by my passions—food, travel, love and the arts. What I love about weddings is that they’re all so different. I even shot one that was like a video game,” she said.
While most of her work is on location, she loves being able to incorporate the historic flavor of old Bellevue buildings, including the Larson Building, which is on the National Historic Register having been built in the late 1800s.
Shultz is a huge fan of the arts culture in Bellevue from its large contingent of skilled artists to the light that imbues the south valley.
She has entertained people from all over the world in her studio located in the Larson Building at 117 S. Main St.
“This is the space I’ve dreamt of having and now it’s reality. So I’m anxious to show it off,” she said. “Since I do most of my work on location, it’s nice to have people in my studio. And people often have questions for me but when I’m busy photographing it’s hard for me to talk. So this gives me a chance to answer all their questions.”