The Trail Less Traveled

Dawn Kish received her first camera, a Nikkormat, when she was 17 years old from her mentor Sue Bennett. For over 25 years she has been shooting adventure, commercial, and conservation photography. “If it is outside,” says Kish, “I’ve probably photographed it.”She creates photos of her journeys, whether they are stories of Native Americans in her Arizona homeland or hanging off a cliff wall in Yosemite.  Dawn’s life is full of adventure activities: snowboarding, rock climbing, backpacking and white water boating. She has worked as a river guide in the Grand Canyon for the USGS. “The river is part of me. It is in my heart and soul.”Dawn was inspired at a young age by the National Geographic Magazines her mother subscribed to and kept on a bookshelf in her bedroom. Then in 1999 she started shooting for them. “It was a dream come true.”For Kish, photography is all about the people and their stories, their emotions, and the honor of the photographic moment. Direct and hones