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Jennifer Renwick
Jennifer is a professional nature photographer based in Colorado, United States. She enjoys sharing the stories of the landscape from behind her lens and has a passion for photographing smaller scenes and natural abstracts.
Michéla Griffith
In 2012 I paused by my local river and everything changed. I’ve moved away from what many expect photographs to be: my images deconstruct the literal and reimagine the subjective, reflecting the curiosity that water has inspired in my practice. Water has been my conduit: it has sharpened my vision, given me permission to experiment and continues to introduce me to new ways of seeing.
Coincidentally as this interview was underway, Matt Payne’s Portrait of Jennifer Renwick was published in On Landscape. Hopefully, you enjoyed the introduction, as in this issue Jennifer is our Featured Photographer.
In a relatively short time, Jennifer has created a strong portfolio of images, and while it is broader than our selection, it is clear that her forte is intimate, abstract and on occasion atmospheric. It’s interesting to note that she talks about the influence of painting on her interpretations of the landscape; of her broader views it was the vapour-heavy scenes that I was most drawn to.
In a time when circumstances have kept many of us in and around our homes, the thought of a life largely lived on the road is a tantalising prospect. At least the interruption to Jennifer and David’s travels has allowed us to catch up with her.
Would you like to start by telling readers a little about yourself – where you grew up, your education and early interests, and what that led you to do as a career?
I grew up in the United States, in the mid-western state of Illinois. Since an early age, I've had an innate curiosity and respect for the natural world around me. I attribute that to my parents, as they both encouraged me to cultivate a relationship with Nature from the start. Because of this, I grew up in a world where I could escape and explore Nature often. I grew up rock-hounding and fossil hunting with my father, as he is a geologist, and together, we explored geologically exciting landscapes. My parents were also involved with arts in college, as my mom had a musical background, and my father had an art background. My father was also an underwater photographer, and I grew up scuba diving with my parents.
I had a point-and-shoot camera as a child and took many photos when we were out on camping trips or underwater. I enjoyed how I could document what I encountered and then share the beauty and nuances of the natural world with others when the photos came back from processing (back in the Kodak film days!). I followed in my father's footsteps and received my degree in geology in college and then switched gears and went into veterinary medicine. I studied for two years, became a certified veterinary technician, and worked in a clinic for almost fourteen years. I picked up a camera again during this time and travelled to the American West for trips and photography every chance I could get. Nature was my mental and physical escape from a hectic and sometimes very stressful career. I fell in love with landscape photography, which led me to break from my career to immerse myself in my photographic passion for photographing landscapes and Nature. I now travel full-time teaching photography workshops with my partner, fellow photographer David Kingham, throughout the American West.