Catherine
Bauknight
Catherine Bauknight is an international News Photojournalist,
Editorial Documentary Photographer, and Filmmaker, based in Los
Angeles. She is an Adjunct Professor of Photography and a Journalist.
The distinguished photographer was one of the first women photojournalists
in the South from outside of New York City to Atlanta and while
based in Charlotte, North Carolina she covered regional stories
for Time Magazine, Newsweek, USA Today, the New York Times, People
Magazine, Rolling Stone Magazine and published in Life Magazine
and other international publications. Many assignments were based
on the “Old South” transitioning to the “New
South” through economic growth and social integration.
Social, political, environmental and sustainability issues are
subjects she has covered over two decades on five continents for
historical purposes and to help create change. This includes the
Tiananmen Square Massacre in China, Contaminated Water in Ethiopia,
The Renaissance of the Catawba Indians in South Carolina, the
Tuberculosis Epidemic in Peru, and the 8-time award winning documentary
film, Hawaii A Voice For Sovereignty awarded "Best Global
Documentary Film Creating Change" in 2014. The screening
of the film premiered at the Capitol Building in Washington, DC
and continues in the U.S., Canada, New Zealand and Europe. It
is currently being aired on Public Broadcasting Service(PBS).
<www.hawaiiavoiceforsovereignty.com http://www.hawaiiavoiceforsovereignty.com
Her roots in photography began after studying oil painting at
Arizona State University. She was given an older model Agfa Camera
and a Photography 101 Book by her Father-in-Law, Photographer
Lavoy Bauknight, for her birthday as she was getting on a plane
to live in Germany for three years. It was while crossing the
Tiber River Bridge of Rome a few weeks later that she was so overwhelmed
by the design and beauty of the water, the sky, and the subtle
colors of nature that she made an instant move for the camera
and discovered the vibrant reality of the scene through the viewfinder.
She shot her first photograph. In that instant she understood
her heartfelt compassion for photography which has continued throughout
her career. She says that photography becomes more powerful in
content and design with the understanding of a language she refers
to as “light writing”. “Photography evokes joy,
beauty, sorrow, empathy, unity, education, and change in the human
soul”, Bauknight says. She began teaching classes while
studying black and white and color printing at Ramstein Air Force
Base. She travelled to different countries to document their culture
and study their art history at museums. Highlights of those photo
essays include Boulevard Montmartre in Paris, Motion in London,
Singe-Yugoslavia, and the three year continued photo essay of
The Old Country in Germany, including the beginning of the life
of her newborn son, Danone.
She moved back to the U.S. to Apple Valley, CA in 1980. Influenced
by her background in oil painting, the study of European artists,
and a sense of history, she began shooting photo essays and assignments
such as the first space shuttle landing at Edwards Air Force Base,
Muhammad Ali on tour and at home, The POLICE in concert, as an
introduction to American news and social comment.
Bauknight relocated to Charlotte, NC in the 1980‘s, where
she covered stories for national publications and The Charlotte
Observer.
Catherine Bauknight creates social statements through the impact
of public art photographic murals. This includes a 29x9 foot mural
at the Charlotte Panther's NFL Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte,
NC and 8x9 foot images of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, a traveling
exhibition. She was one of four photographers to document the
1989 massacre in Beijing, China. Her artistic photographic social
commentary style has been compared to the photography of Margaret
Bourke-White, who documented social change. Bauknight was a protégé
and friend of the legendary photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt.
Bauknight’s philosophy is simple: “From my
experiences, I believe that culture is the DNA, the common denominator
for communications between all people.”
In the new millennium, Bauknight continues to photograph
news events and document cultures and social change through the
eye of her cameras, capturing social and political scenarios that
will soon vanish and one day be experienced only through photography
and literature.
Bauknight was honored by the Native American Studies Center (NASC)
at the University of South Carolina - Lancaster during their 10th
Annual Native American Studies Week. The year-long exhibition
of her still photography documenting “The Renaissance of
The Catawba Indians” opened on March 10, 2015 and runs through
March 01, 2016. The exhibit premiered at the Capitol Building
in Washington, DC in 2000.
She is currently completing a documentary film on the culture
of fashion in Los Angeles and beginning a sequel documentary to
Hawaii A Voice For Sovereignty.
Bauknight's goal is to share the cultural sensitivity and the
identity of people globally to help build a foundation of deep
understanding and peaceful relationships around the world. She
says that the Native Americans reveal that this is the time that
knowledge will be shared among all people of the world. She collaborates
and is a cultural ambassador through the boundless power of photography
and filmmaking.
EDUCATION
BFA Specializing in Photography - University of North Carolina,
Charlotte
Brooks Institute of Photography/Journalism, Santa Barbara, CA
Studio Arts Center International Florence, Italy
AWARDS:
Juror 100, Turning Silver, 25th Anniversary Exhibition & limited
edition book, Women In Photography International, Los Angeles,
CA
Humanitarian Activism Award, Visual Artists Guild, Beverly Hills,
CA
Tiananmen Square Massacre Exhibit Award - Building Bridges Art
Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
Best Hawai`i Film - Maui Film Festival (Hawaii A Voice For Sovereignty)
Best Global Documentary Film Creating Change - Pacific Talent
Film Festival, Los Angeles (Hawaii A Voice For Sovereignty)
Best Documentary Film- NY International Independent Film and Video
Festival (Hawaii A Voice For Sovereignty)
Best Environmental Film - NY International Independent Film and
Video Festival (Hawaii A Voice For Sovereignty)
Best Environmental Film - Red Nation Film Festival, Los Angeles
(Hawaii A Voice For Sovereignty)
Best Documentary - American Indian Movement Film Festival, San
Francisco (Hawaii A Voice For Sovereignty)
Mana Wairoa Award - Maori Film Festival, New Zealand (Hawaii A
Voice For Sovereignty)
Allen Willis Documentary Award - Berkeley Video and Film Festival
(Hawaii A Voice For Sovereignty)
Daniel Pearl Multimedia Award in 2016 presented by the Pocono
Mountains Film Festival
OTHILA
MEDIA PRODUCTIONS, CEO
CATHERINE BAUKNIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY, CEO
UPDATE - JULY 2015 - MARCH 2016
Catherine
Bauknight’s goal to help give a voice to those who have
no voice including people of indigenous cultures continues. Her
photography has expanded and inclusive of multi-media levels of
outreach. One of her projects includes the year-long photography
exhibition, “The Renaissance of The Catawba Indians”
now on display at the University of South Carolina Lancaster Native
American Studies Center (NASC). Her lecture at the NASC and future
lectures are focused on the importance and process of documenting
your own culture. The exhibition and the photographing of the
images by Bauknight during the peak of the renaissance of the
Catawba Indians, 1997-1999 was recently covered by PBS South Carolina
ETV for a special program to be broadcast in the near future.
Bauknight continues to shoot for local newspapers and publications
in the Los Angeles area and for her international column in the
Huffington Post World Blog. This platform reaches most major cities
throughout the world in many languages focused on those who have
no representation or voice in cultural, social, and environmental
issues. This can be viewed at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/catherine-bauknight/
Her photographic style is defined by an influence and Minor in
Art History from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte and
Studio Art Center International (SACI) in Florence, Italy.
Bauknight’s goal is the same since the beginning of her
photography career in 1977; to capture important moments that
remain timeless. She is now preparing a series of photography
books based of the turn of the Twentieth Century and Twenty First
Century events. These defining images show a timeline of cultural
and social change, Native Hawaiian culture and Native American
culture, news, presidential and political campaigns, rock and
roll musicians from 1980-2016, the Old South becoming the New
South, Hollywood celebrities, and more.
Selected examples of these images representing a full body of
work of these subjects will be added to her website for historical
and educational references of national and international events,
and artistic documentation.
A rare collection will be made available for museums, galleries,
and educational exhibitions of two photographic images of brave
Chinese students peacefully protesting for democracy in Tiananmen
Square on June 3, 1989. This social statement was the beginning
of a democracy movement in China, which had a domino effect of
the Berlin Wall coming down. The world as we new it changed resulting
in this event. Both of the two images are also historic in the
printing process for 1989. They are printed from 35 mm slides
in acrylic paint digitally transferred to 8x9 feet canvasses,
and stretched on archival canvas in a floating frame. Bauknight
searched throughout the world to find a process to make the images
life size to create a life experience for the viewer in a time
when nothing of this magnitude had ever happened and been documented.
Many students were shot and killed by the Chinese military. Generations
of Chinese do not know that these students sacrificed their lives
for future freedom of China that night in Tiananmen Square. It
has not been included in the history of China. The dramatic request
of the people in the square motioning to Bauknight, who was one
of four photographers to document the action and saying “For
the Free World”, is why she continues to raise awareness
of these images for history. She photographed the protest until
she was forced to run out of the square with bullets being fired
at her feet by Chinese soldiers.
To support the voice of the movement of the Native Hawaiian People
to restore their indigenous rights she is hosting a series, “Mauna
Kea Now” interviewing principles of “Protect Mauna
Kea” on the Sandwich Islands Network Radio at V93.com. The
network provides a platform for Pacific Islanders and the global
community.
Her completed film Hawaii A Voice For Sovereignty continues to
be distributed internationally and is now used for education and
collected by libraries such as The College of William and Mary
and others. Her documentary film, The Culture of Fashion in Los
Angeles which highlights the barriers of cultures being removed
through the language of fashion will be completed in 2016.
Catherine Bauknight received the high honor of the Daniel Pearl
Multimedia Award in 2016 presented by the Pocono Mountains Film
Festival. The award recognizes her contribution as a photojournalist
and documentary filmmaker to raise awareness of the struggles
that indigenous people face to perpetuate their culture and human
rights. This includes her news photography published globally
and the photography exhibition, Renaissance of the Catawba Indians.
It also includes the award winning documentary film, Hawaii A
Voice For Sovereignty. The film is one of the first documentaries
spoken in the voice of the native people of Hawaii to reveal their
message throughout world that their culture and sovereign rights
must be recognized after the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian
Kingdom by the U.S. in 1893, to sustain their future.
UPDATE
- MARCH
2016 - APRIL 2017
GRANTS April 2017
Artist in Residence / Lancaster County School District, S.C.
Document Your Culture/Learn TV/ Lancaster County School District:
April, 2017
In April 2017 Bauknight was honored with an Artist in Residence
grant from the Lancaster County School District in S.C. to teach
students how to document their culture in the area, including
the rich culture of the First Nation Catawba Indians nearby. Bauknight
worked with the students to video and include their documentation
for TV Broadcast shows on Learn TV produced at Lancaster High
School. She continues to teach, lecture and give workshops on
"How To Document Your Culture" at educational institutions
including the University of Southern California, California State
University Fullerton, University of South Carolina Native American
Studies Center, and Akaku TV, Maui, Hawaii.
Cultural background based on international assignments. Examples
can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCajPQTy1eR4P7QMX-KbBKog
PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION July 2017 – July 2020
"The Renaissance of the Catawba Indians" photography
exhibit will be at the Long House on the Catawba Indian Reservation
in Rock Hill, SC. The travelling show exhibited at the University
of North Carolina, the Capitol Building in Washington, DC, and
a one-year exhibition at the University of South Carolina Native
American Studies Center, March 2015-2016.
HUFFINGTON POST EDITORIAL/ PHOTOGRAPY BLOG 2015 – 2017
Huffington Post Editorial, Photography and Video Blog/ 2015 –
1017 <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/pulitzer-award-winning-photographer-nick-ut-retires_us_58e7ff92e4b0acd784ca5826
2015-2017
Today Bauknight combines the multi-media of still photography,
video and journalism for news, features, and cultural stories.
She is a contract and freelance photographer.
FASHION AND CULTURE IN LOS ANGELES DOCUMENTARY FILM RELEASE
JULY 2017
Fashion and Culture in Los Angeles is a documentary feature film
directed and produced by Catherine Bauknight to be released in
July 2017. The film explores the identity of people and designers
from around the world represented through street fashion, high
fashion and lifestyle. The film reveals that fashion is the silent
language, culture is the voice.
Trailer for film <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1mToe9UYSobeginning
COLLECTIONS 2014-2017
Acquisitions of Hawaii A Voice For Sovereignty Documentary Feature
Film 2012-2017
www.hawaiiavoiceforsovereignty.com
The eight-time award winning documentary Film Hawaii A Voice For
Sovereignty, released in 2012 continues to be acquired for permanent
collection at educational institutions, some listed below. The
story spoken in the voice of the native Hawaiian people about
the takeover of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893 and their goals to
restore a sustainable lifestyle and their rich culture is at the
forefront of the film. It has raised awareness internationally
of their needs for sovereign rights, for human rights. While screening
throughout the U.S., Europe, Canada and New Zealand it has attracted
scholars, professionals, and people of all ethnicities and cultures
to come together and discuss the issues that the Hawaiians face
and what solutions are available to them today. While premiering
at the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. and screening at the
United Nations, in New York City and in Geneva, Switzerland at
the Permanent Forum of Indigenous People, the film has become
a tool to break down barriers and plan a positive future for generations
to come. The film is directed and produced by filmmaker Catherine
Bauknight.
College of William and Mary
University of California, Berkeley
University of Hawaii.
Pigorini National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography, Rome Italy
University of South Carolina
George Mason University
Dartmouth College
Evergreen State College
University of Canterbury-New Zealand
National Library of New Zealand
Prince Albert Library, Canada
Unitech Institute of Technology, New Zealand
University of Auckland
Victoria University of Wellington
Haverford College
St. Olaf College
University of S. Florida
Douglas County Library, Colorado
Kansas City Kansas Community College
Christopher Newport UniversityTimberland Regional Library, Washington
St. Louis County Library
Lancaster, SC Library
Women
In Photography International Charter Member since
2000
Catherine Bauknight
Pasadena, CA
www.catherinebauknight.com
cbauknight@othilamedia.com
©Copyright
for all images remains the property of exhibited photographer,
and promotional use for Women In Photography International. All
inquiries regarding use of and purchasing image use rights must
be directed to the photographer.
File:
GALLERY & BIO complete - 12/30/2014
COMPLETE: 5/02/2015
UPDATE:
Photographer response UPDATE: JULY 2015 - MARCH 2016
UPDATE
FINAL: May 2017 website content 1999-2017
womeninphotography.org
file transfer to the Beinecke.
All organization files, computer, external hard drive, printed
materials, photographs,
DVDs, books, competitions files and onsite installation art
work
