Kim Riegel

People I know come into my darkened room and reveal themselves to me. The shedding of private thoughts turned into spoken words follows the shedding of clothes. I become the receptacle of secrets, fantasies, and wishes.  I accept these revelations with honor and hold them carefully. The level of trust given to me is overwhelming at times.  Sometimes I feel unworthy of the gift.

I don’t know if I can be that vulnerable.  To reveal my physical form is easy; to disclose my innermost self fills me with apprehension.  Yet, people willingly stand before me, extending an invitation to look at them—to see them as they are—not just their body, but also the very core of their being. I find the human body miraculous and lovely to behold.  When someone sees the photographs we have made together, their own beauty often surprises them. When I look at the photographs we have made together, I see each person’s inner beauty made visible.  I remember the gift that was given.  I feel again the shared intimacy that nourished our spirits.  I am grateful that knowing each one of them enriches my life.

Kim Riegel is a professional photographer from Birmingham, Alabama.  She has always expressed herself artistically, and turned to photography as her primary medium in the 1990s.  While she no longer practices counseling, the field in which she was trained, she applies her skills and intuition to the photography of people.  “I am fascinated by the inner life of other people, and what motivates their thoughts and actions.  I like to reach the ‘real’ person and bring that into the visual image.  Their willingness to reveal themselves is a gift, an invitation of trust and acceptance.”