May 17, 2017

Meet Krista Davenport of Kris D. Photography in Richmond

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Krista Davenport.

Krista, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I began shooting at just 18 years old here in Houston where I later attended the University of Houston and earned my BFA in Photography/Digital Media. Over 8 years later, I have been honored to be voted Houston’s RAW Photographer of the Year in 2015. I was then published in Elements Magazine for a high-fashion editorial and locally invited to exhibit my work in several museums and galleries around the Houston area for my long-lasting study in documenting the five stages of grief through photography. Earlier last year, my work was even exhibited in Mumbai, India.

My travel/photojournalism began much later in my career (about 2 years ago) when I realized how many questions I was answering in regards to my travel photography every time I came back from a trip. Friends and family seemed genuinely interested in my adventures, so I took it upon myself to start documenting and blogging all of my trips. No matter where I venture off to, Houston will always be the place I love to call home.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Coming from an artist background, it was a bit of a switch to just start casually shooting my whereabouts. Artists tend to be very strict in their craft and fairly consistent in their work. Here I was just bouncing from place to place not focusing on the “what” but the “where” and my eye had to refocus a bit. I do however think it gives the perfect plot twist in my life story. Travelling has become a huge part of my life in my late 20’s and I want to celebrate it any way that I can through my photos. Photojournalism is where I am at right now in my journey and it’s becoming more natural for me every day. The process feels liberating!

Please tell us about Kris D. Photography.
Kris D. Photography was established in 2008. After graduation, I began making my living off of Commercial photography. This included weddings, events, families, births, and really everything else you can think of! Again, I do have an artistic background plus I specialize in candid photography so the images (in my opinion) are a ton of fun to look at. I have built a network that allows me to do commercial photography in different cities I visit along with destination sessions. No two days are the same! My ultimate purpose is to spread love and happiness around the world through my photography. I am a firm believer that we are never too old or too young to create “happy”. =)

The one thing that sets my work apart is that naturally all of my work has documented my life, and life (as we all know) is in no way perfect. I have come to respect that fact and I tend to use it to my advantage during my adventures as a business owner and photographer. In other words, I very rarely leave people on a serious note. Instead, I try to incorporate the crazy, weird, goofballish things about myself or my experiences because they are just as important as the work itself. Hell, life just shouldn’t be that serious. I want my audience and most importantly my clients to know how silly I am, but also how passionate and loving I am in my craft. Not only by telling them, but by showing them!

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My favorite childhood memory would have to be driving half way across the country with my sister when we were 16 (please keep in mind that my parents were driving in the car ahead of us but that didn’t matter…it was our trip!) We both had our permits and she got her first car. We picked it up in Kansas and drove it to Florida over the summer before school started in the Fall. We listened to the same 3 CD’s the entire way and kept stopping to take photos of everything we found interesting. She was mostly just taking pictures of me because I wasn’t interested in photography at the time. I remember feeling like traveling was something we could do forever. We talked about it as we ate our Kentucky Fried Chicken in the actual state of Kentucky. The whole trip felt so timeless and free and it is one of my most cherished memories!

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