Kara Dry
Kara Dry, an undergraduate from the University of North Texas, won Sony’s Photojournalism Scholarship.
Accomplishments
As a young photojournalist I have seized many opportunities which have helped me advance my skills as a photographer and showcase my abilities to produce strong publication-worthy work. I have been published in The Dallas Morning News, The Denton Record-Chronicle, North Texan Magazine and The North Texas Daily. I am the president for our NPPA chapter at the University of North Texas and serve on the National Student Committee for NPPA. I have worked as the Visuals Editor for The North Texas Daily and produced work that increased our digital engagement but more importantly focused on underrepresented communities in Denton, Texas and focused on increasing the social awareness of our staff and the publication as a whole. As the Managing Editor for the University of North Texas’ student-run photo agency, Hatch Visuals, I was able to revitalize the program and provide young photographers with educational and leadership opportunities while increasing our profits enough to purchase a stock of pool equipment for students to use to advance their skills.
Career Goals
Although I have grappled with this question a lot over the past year, I have decided to work as a full-time freelance photographer. My hopes with this career path are that I will be able to work on the types of stories that I am passionate about and I thrive at telling and photographing. My work focuses on themes of human rights and public policy violations and injustice specifically related to marginalized communities and people at a social or economic disadvantage. In the starting years of my career I hope to make enough money taking assignments from editorial publications to be able to fund the stories that I want to tell in hopes of pitching them for publication. As I build my reputation as a photojournalist, I aim to work for large publications, receiving assignments and traveling the world photographing stories that need to be told.
Portfolio
Click on pictures to see stories.
Proud Partnership
Art and Pride found a home together on full-color zine pages and in the air of a packed venue during this year’s new collaboration between Spiderweb Salon and PRIDENTON. In the spirit of community, the two organizations came together to allow artists to express themselves and give Denton the opportunity to support LGBTQ art in celebration of Pride.
Spiderweb Salon, having just celebrated its seventh birthday, is a long-standing foundation in the Denton arts community. Their regularly hosted workshops, showcases, readings and parties aim to foster community among local artists.
Bringing Pride to Denton for the third year, PRIDENTON strives to not only create memorable events during the month of June, but to advocate on behalf of the LGBTQ community. Their allegiance with Spiderweb Salon, not only celebrated artists but shone a light on the struggles the community still faces 50 years after the Stonewall riots.
Together, with the help of UNT’s Pride Alliance, the two organizations produced a zine titled Love Is, which featured everything from stick figures to love letters. The zine was released for free and also contained resources for mental health and other services for the LGBTQ community.
The organizations also hosted the Spiderweb Salon Loves PRIDENTON showcase, an event that created a safe space for folks to share their stories, thoughts and songs about life, love and what it means to be LGBTQ. Beyond the official goings on, Spiderweb Salon opened its headquarters to PRIDENTON for meetings and craft nights, serving as a haven for all things LGBTQ and creative.
Her Heart and Sol
At the intersection of two passions, Kai’ Perry’s time and energy are often torn between two things she adores most: modeling and being a mom. Having juggled these parts of her life for nearly three years, Kai’s family and faith have been her cornerstones as she navigates the challenges of building a career that will pay the bills and raising a daughter on the spectrum for Autism.
“Kids are really a job,” Kai’ said. “It’s a full-time job outside of your full-time job and that’s what I signed up for and I don’t regret it. If I was to do it all over again I would because I could not imagine my life without her.”
All for the Music
Among a network of underground DIY house venues in Denton, Texas, The Holding Cell opens its doors to bands looking for a space to play and folks wanting a place to party. Dylan Tarver originally created this space for him and his band to practice but it quickly grew into something bigger.
Project role: Reporter, Photographer, Videographer, Everything.
Singles
This is a collection of single photographs from my time at publications such as The Dallas Morning News, The Denton Record-Chronicle and The North Texas Daily.