Photographs are a window into our collective soul.  Affirmation.  Reformation.  Confirmation.  The single most powerful means of communication.  A single photograph can unite, divide, change, and ultimately bind us together in the shared human experience.

I love people. Connecting. Sharing. Being in the world. I aim to make seemingly ordinary moments extraordinary through the lens. As a photographer, I enter lives, sometimes for but a fleeting moment, slipping away without my presence being known. Other times, I'm a deliberate, persistent presence in someone's space. I take something from everyone I photograph. I try to give something in exchange. It is my hope that every photograph creates understanding, empathy, and agency for the people I experience in the world.

This is why I photograph.

Why I Photograph.

I'm an award-winning American photographer working on both commissioned and long-term documentary projects, with a particular interest for people’s sense for belonging and identity in an ever-changing world.  In particular, I'm interested in examining dissonance and the role of labor in our post-liberalism capitalist society.

My love for photography began at age 19.  I boarded a plane with an Eddie Bauer daypack, passport, and the manual Pentax I bought with my first paycheck at age 16. I ventured to North Africa by way of Rome.  I then moved myself to Paris, where I lived, worked, and studied for the next many years. In that time, I slept on an open rooftop in Santorini for $3, "hitchhiked" on the bridge of a freight carrier bound for the Turkish coast, and traveled Ireland for a week by bus for less $200.

Those times of freedom and adventure — not safety and comfort — are the happiest of my life. 

I began as a full-time professional photographer in 2005, working with thousands of clients and delivering more than 1,000,000 + finished images in that time.

I aim to own little. I travel anywhere — full gear in tow — in a single day pack. My philosophy is travel light, try strange foods, and make friends along the way.

I was raised a Gen X latchkey kid in a solid middle class home in Southeast Michigan. My dad was ta 34-year UAW auto worker and my mother made good on the feminist promise of her time. She began college when I was eight and ascended to Senior VP of a large commercial bank. My parents realized the American dream. Along with my younger sister, Jennifer, who died in 2002 at age 23, ours was a happy home. 

Having lived and traveled the world, I believe there's nowhere like living in Michigan: the smell of burning leaves on a crisp October day, hot donuts from the cider mill, and the thundering waves on Lake Michigan's shore. I am formed out of the grit and heart of Detroit.  This place and these people are my home.

I have a B.A. in History from the University of Michigan with coursework at the Université Paris I - Sorbonne. I'm a self-taught photographer and writer.  I live outside of Ann Arbor with my husband and our son.

Commercial / Editorial .

Cell : +1 248 320 1943 (EST)
Instagram : @karenlippowiths
Email : karen@karenlippowiths.com

Inquiries.