Katherine’s interest in photography manifested when she was thirteen years old, growing up in small-town southeast Michigan. She had already discovered her love of storytelling through writing and traditional art at a young age, and photographic storytelling fit in perfectly alongside them. In 2015, Katherine moved to Chicago to begin studying writing and photography at Columbia College Chicago. She quickly realized that her self-taught knowledge of photography was far from comprehensive, and she had a lot more to learn to develop into a professional photographer. Over her four years at Columbia, Katherine became proficient in technique and theory, as well as studio photography and editing in Photoshop. She decided to evolve K Martin Photography—established when she was a teen—into a professional venture after graduating in the spring of 2019.

Katherine’s photography largely consists of portraiture that is rooted in nature and storytelling. She likes for her images to feel as though they are stills taken from real life, even when they exist in more abstract forms. It is for this reason that her portraiture for clients tends to be relaxed; she places her subjects in natural, charming environments that aim to project warmth and realism as opposed to posed formality that may come off as insincere. It is her main goal that her clients always feel as comfortable as possible during a session—because a comfortable subject results in a more earnest and appealing end product, but also because she wants the photographic process to be a truly enjoyable one for everyone she works with.