Finding water in a Dry Season

Karen Kasmauski’s career began with the Virginian Pilot newspaper as a staff photographer, winning numerous honors including runner up for Newspaper Photographer of the Year and placing in the Robert F. Kennedy Awards. Karen was a contract photographer for National Geographic Magazine, photographing 25 major stories. Her main focus, the intersection of the health of the land and that of the communities tied to it. Geographic awarded her their prestigious Photographer in Residence position, leading to her first book IMPACT: From the Front lines of Global Health. That book, and a follow-on, NURSE: A World of Care were both nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in community service. Her most recent story on “Black Midwives, Saving Lives” was accepted by the prestigious Communication Arts Photography Annual. She worked with two colleagues, all oldest daughters of Japanese War Brides to create a traveling exhibit on these women with Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Services. It travels through 2028.

Karen holds undergraduate degrees in Anthropology and Religion from the University of Michigan. She was awarded a Knight Fellowship at Ohio University where she received her Masters of Photography degree,  She is presently on the board of the Park Institute of America which focuses on the importance of public lands.