I've always had a strong connection to photography, and can remember the obsession I felt as a child for old family photos. As a teenager, I completely fell in love with image-making. Photography became a place for me to escape, and to express myself freely. My process became a form of therapy, during a formative time where I did not feel safety in my body. I began making self-portraits and it completely changed the way I saw and understood myself. This is something I've continued in my practice ever since - exploring the ways in which photography can be an empowering, transformational experience. I take an empathetic approach to making portraits, and in a shared vulnerability between myself and the subject, we are able to go to deep places of self-expression.
Kate Sweeney is a self-taught photographer from Columbus, Ohio, who has described her process as therapy. “Taking self-portraits and photographing other women has been the most transformative part of my life,” she explains — “to see our bodies as art made autonomously and authentically instead of sexual objects of be owned and desired.” Working collaboratively with her subjects, Sweeney strives to make honest, vulnerable portraits that are simultaneously defiant and inviting. Her photographs are a celebration of the human form, color, and our connection to nature, bearing witness to her subjects, and to them witnessing themselves. She is represented by Sarah Gormley Gallery, and her work has appeared in publications such as Billboard, Glamour Magazine, and Teen Vogue. Whether she is working with a big commercial client or a peer from her community, she hopes to maintain the same integrity in her approach to celebrate everyone's unique, inner beauty.