Christina Kline

Christina Kline's photography is a natural outgrowth of her love of nature and the outdoors.

As far back as she can remember into early childhood growing up in Lynchburg, Virginia, she has loved the outdoors. While her sister was reading books, Christina was prowling around outside -- enjoying the feel of the sun on her skin, identifying wildflowers or listening to the haunting sounds of the night at Wintergreen's Nature Camp, following rocks across a stream but not really minding if she slipped off and got her shoes wet, digging in the dirt to uncover a pretty rock.

In fact, "digging in the dirt" became so attractive that during her years as an anthropology major at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, she found herself drawn more and more to archaeology, a field she imagines she may pursue in years to come.

But in the meantime, her enjoyment of being outdoors has led her into the realm of photography as a way to record the way light plays on ice-covered branches or the colorful pattern that yellow hickory leaves make against an October sky. 

Christina credits much of her appreciation for the natural world and her regard for ecology to Wintergreen Resort's Nature Foundation. "I've been going on hikes with Doug Coleman ever since I was a little girl," she says. "I've enjoyed shooting pictures during many outings such as hikes to Saint Mary's Wilderness or from views along Fortune's Ridge where we had Nature Camp."

Christina says she finds herself using information she gained from many experiences and from influential people in her life. She recalls the excellent teaching from photography instructor John Scott at Lynchburg's Heritage High School. "He was one of the first who sat down and looked at my pictures, told me what was good about them, and made suggestions for how I might improve them," she says. She remembers that the pinhole camera she constructed in a high school physics class taught her how light paints pictures on film, and that depth of field and exposure are controlled with aperture and shutter speed settings. And her employment during her high school years at a one-hour photo lab was not "just a job." "When you're developing a lot of other people's pictures, you start to realize what makes a good photo," she says.

Christina's favorite subject matter is evident in her photographs on display at Black Rock Gallery. She especially loves photographing trees from unusual angles, emphasizing the geometry of the branches. She records the appearance of a ridgeline at sunset and the way the valley looks from the mountain on certain mornings when the clouds are below her and all but the tops of lower ridges are immersed in an ocean of white fluff.

Christina packs a camera on her outdoor adventures when possible, whether it's rafting or canoeing a river, hiking a lake trail, or rock climbing on some Blue Ridge cliff. But sometimes, despite her best efforts, a memorable scene doesn't get recorded on film.

Recalling the quiet intrigue of a scene during a drive through Pennsylvania where wispy bits of clouds clung to the hollows on the hillsides, she says, "Some of my favorite photographs are the ones I don't have in any media but rather in my mind. I have a lot of those."

© Christina Kline Photos. All Rights Reserved.

Contact Information for Christina Kline
E-mail: kline.cv@gmail.com