To look at a scene
or image captured by the lens of Photographer Kim Vogee is to drift into
the soul of a lone horse, gazing at the sunset, or feel the crisp cold
air as the season snaps. Her emotions emit from each moving shot.
Vogee was born in
1957 in Lake Forrest, Ill. She spent her formative years in Greenwich, Conn. and Nantucket, Mass., prior to moving to
California when she was 10. The palette of the west and its heritage
fascinated her; it was all so different from the east coast.
Heredity could have
made the feel of a camera in her hands seem right. Vogee’s grandfather,
Miller Reese Hutchison II held the first patent on the Brownie camera
and from both sides of her family there has been a generational
connection to Rochester New York’s Eastman Kodak
Company. As a child she took hundreds of pictures during idyllic summer
vacations spent on Nantucket with her grandparents.
In 1980, Vogee
completed a certificate in dental technology and earned an arts degree
from Diablo Valley College. She started her
own orthodontic dental lab, Marin Orthodontics in 1984, which recently
celebrated its 20th anniversary, serving Marin County, Calif.
Her love of the
visual image took on a bigger role in her life in 2002, when encouraged
by her husband, John Vogee, to make her photographic art available
commercially. Although it was never her intention to become a
professional photographer, she was often mistaken for one.
An avid horsewoman
and very active in the equestrian community, Vogee began carrying her
camera with her and shot pictures from the saddle as she rode through
Marin County. Living on a ranch, her
homestead also provided beautiful images to capture and she did not
neglect to take her camera along during cattle drives in Marin and
Sonoma counties.
Often up and out
riding before dawn, she captures that special warm light that
illuminates animals and scenery in extraordinary ways. That is why she
describes her work as natural light photography. Vogee shuns flash
photography and computer special effects, preferring to shoot the world
around her as it naturally is — showing how the beauty of light can
transform the mundane and ordinary. She also likes the feel of a 35 mm
rather than digital photography in her work.
Her photography has
been published in Horses in Art magazine, Saddle & Bridle
magazine, Cowboys and Indian magazine, and Horse Connection
as well as other publications.
Her photography is
also found in the book, “True Horsemanship Through Feel” by Dorrance &
Desmond under the name Kim Murphy. Her Photography is also available
through Thistledew Productions imaged on a variety of handmade goods and
products, which lend to the pieces a unique western flare. Her work has
also been showcased in several calendars, benefiting non-profit
organizations. It has been featured in private shows and hangs in
businesses and corporations throughout the West.
Vogee recently
completed the first piece of the “Three Bit Signature Series,” where she
collaborated with a leather artist and a silversmith to create “Waitin a
Turn”, bringing her photography to another artistic level.
Kim is president of
the Cowgirls Foundation and past president of the Marin Horse Council.
She is also a member of the Equine Art Guild, Marin Arts Council,
Nantucket Arts Council, and
Indian Valley Artist’s Association.
