Krulwich – Cool, Calm and Collected

Sara Krulwich walked into that classroom with an almost majestic presence. Her face is warm and familiar, and her eyes seemed to earnestly seek out everyone in the room. As she introduced herself, I was excited.

I did not know much about her, but had seen some of her work in the New York Times unknowingly. I read the Theater section for my weekly fix. After she came in, I’ve been noticing her name in a lot of the articles I read – and now I appreciate them so much more.

Her story was inspiring, to say the least; she took a hit for all the female photographers before her (all few of them). She had no reason to believe that she could make it as a photographer, as she wasn’t even allowed on her college football field. Sara’s do-it-yourself attitude led her to do great things, and be the first to do them.

Hearing her story come from her mouth so matter-of-factly and with a slight undertone of pride was so very impressive. She could have easily puffed out her chest and said, “Yeah, I am great.” But she did not. Instead, she left me with hope. Hope that I could do the same, but I would not have to. I would not have to because she paved the way for other women to follow in her difficult footsteps.

When she explained her first interactions with her camera, I could imagine her in a room fiddling around with a DIY film developing kit – because I’ve been through the same thing. For hours on end I would dabble with buttons and settings, experimenting. When I started with film I would sit in a dark room with no experience and just go for it.

She gives me hope that if I keep up with it, maybe my photography could blossom into more than just experiments. Sara did not go out on crazy trips around the world to follow poverty and crime in third world countries, and she did not spend her time taking avant-garde pictures of malnourished models. She takes pictures of what she knows and loves, and provides another medium for fellow theater-lovers to appreciate it more. And on top of that, she did it FIRST.