Karen Ahrens profile

Karen Ahrens was born in a small town in Wisconsin – so small that her mother was even mayor for a few years. After 17 years of frolicking in the cornfields, cow pastures and snowy meadows, she headed south to a small university called New College in southern Florida. There she found a home away from home amongst the frighteningly smart but all uniquely odd 500 students that are lucky enough to attend New College. She studied Sociology, always incorporating photography into her research and papers. Her degree was finalized with a thesis on diners and why people love to sit at the counter and talk about the weather over a bad, and quite possibly tepid, cup of coffee (and a grilled cheese if you are anything like Karen). After receiving her degree, Wisconsin called her back home – this time to Milwaukee. Beer, bratwurst, and good friends graced this post-college period for her. She worked in an engine shop while practicing photography in her spare time. Her photographic vision during this period was largely focussed on rock bands on and off the stage. A job opportunity (if you are counting years, she was 22 at the time) called her West, young fille, to Los Angeles. And what type of company could have torn her away from Milwaukee, you might ask. Well, a Japanese tractor company, of course (she was known as the "Parts Chick" in the Industry for her uncanny knowledge of engine and equipment spare parts). She spent 8 years in Los Angeles eventually settling in the Hollywood, Los Feliz area. She worked her way out of tractors and into designing computer systems for car companies, all of the while continuing with photography whenever and where ever she could. Her photography took on a new focus of people in their environments and life in the city.A photographic trip brought her to Paris for the first time in 2003. She fell in love with the city and with a Frenchman, both of which called her to eventually move to Paris in 2004 (Still counting years? She was 30.). Photographer, writer, editor, computer system designer, engine parts specialist . . . and avid runner – you can find her nearly every day running through the Bois de Boulogne. Her photographs have been displayed at galleries in Los Angeles and Paris and her work can be seen at www.karenahrens.com.