Meet Kristine Nyborg | Photographer, chronicler and educator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kristine Nyborg and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kristine, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
I think the definition of balance has changed. My pursuit of my career was an all-consuming thing and I thought balance meant that I was supposed to do it that way. That the only balance I needed was to keep earning enough through editorial photography so I could spend time doing my personal projects. Over time these projects also became part of my income from editorial photography. The balance was photography as work and photography as long-form storytelling, both feeding into work. Photographer was my entire identity.

When I had kids that balance was thrown, as I no longer had space to only devote my time to my craft. It was a painful time of re-defining not just myself as a human being and mother, but also as a photographer. It took many years but eventually I embraced the many avenues photography lends to brining in income and leaned into different revenue streams. This resulted in becoming a more confident storyteller as I now can spend time with my children and my photography, while still staying true to my photographic passion. I became more financially independent than when I was freelancing regularly for corporate media. It has opened up space for my creativity to flow without expectations getting in the way, because life with kids is a life interrupted, and in that chaotic space I’ve found a way to balance their needs, my needs and my work needs. I have to say though, I’m often just an ear-infection away for that balance being thrown off. Or a pandemic as it turned out. Finding back to it can be a journey of patience.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I tell stories in photographs and words, with an emphasis on the visual. I make honest pictures of daily life, because I think it’s important we honour life being lived without a filter. I have been working as a photographer for twenty years and have stumbled many times, wether it was hitting creative walls or being unable to sustain a steady income. I am the most proud of sticking with it all this time, because this profession has enriched my life in ways money never could. It hasn’t been easy, but with each fall came another pivot and with each pivot came another growth spurt. It took a few of those before I was able to look back and realise that I’ll likely have more stumbles to come and will hopefully keep growing until the end.

A story is just as much about the rising and falling action as it is about the climax, and I’m not in a hurry to get you there. I put my whole heart into every project I do. Telling stories of how people live, whether it is for editorial purposes or private, is a huge honour. I’m there to learn their story and observe it the way they experience it so it remains their story to tell and not mine to share.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I live next to a giant park, so I’d want to take them on a hike or two. I’d also want to ride bikes to the National Gallery of Canada before eating Beavertails at the Byward Market. If they came in the summer or fall I’d take them to pick on one of the many farms around here, and maybe we’d rent a canoe to go up the river a bit. Ottawa is a very monumental city with big government buildings, but the surrounding area, like north of the river into Quebec have a lot of beautiful trails to explore.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I always knew I wanted to be a storyteller, but I didn’t know I could be good at it until I went through the San Francisco State Journalism Department under the guidance of Ken Kobré. So I’d like to dedicate it to the SFSU Journalism Department between 1999-2002.

Website: https://www.kristinenyborg.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristine_nyborg/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinenyborg/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kinepix

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kristine.nyborg/