Profile: Tina Campbell

Norwalk artist Tina Campbell first came to photography when she and her best friend began scrapbooking years ago.

She had been taking pictures of family events since the birth of her first child in 1994 and found the creative outlet of scrapbooking enjoyable.

She “couldn’t get enough” of finding creative ways to convert boxes full of family photos into completed scrapbooks.

The hobby allowed her to “buy cool paper and tools,” and also showed her what the creative life was like and how rewarding it was to organize and present her stories. 

But as the journey progressed, Campbell began to see how chasing the image could interrupt her subject.

“Instead of enjoying the time with my loved ones, I was constantly in pursuit of the perfect pictures,” said Campbell. “Their smiles looked forced, and any joy we may have been experiencing in the moment was interrupted and never came through in the pictures.”

This discovery had a significant impact on her approach.

Around this time, the family began taking four-wheeler trips to Utah, Colorado, and Wisconsin. The new surroundings drew her photographic eye more to the natural world. She let go of the forced pose style, opting for candid shots that focused on the moment while strengthening her creative outlet.

When not on family trips, she began taking her camera on drives around the Iowa countryside, where she fell in love with old barns in perpetual states of decay yet still maintaining their aesthetic appeal.

After her old point-and-shoot Canon met its end of life, she upgraded to her first digital camera in 2009 and dedicated her creative energy to photography. Along with experience in the field, she took various local and online courses and earned a Professional Photography diploma from the Photography Institute in 2014. While taking on some freelance photography work, she found her true joy was taking photos of nature rather than people.

All of this has led to her current practice, which she summarizes through an artist statement: “I am a landscape photographer and garden girl. I love photographing the rich colors and textures of the Midwest and playing in the dirt. I believe time spent in nature is never wasted. My goal is to inspire and encourage others to get outside, take a deep breath, maybe get your hands dirty, and experience the peace and joy that connecting with nature generates.”

Campbell illustrates how there are so many different ways and times to live as a creative, and many ways for it to be hard to dedicate time to as well. The journey is so beneficial, often leaving the creative who takes it up later in life to wonder why they didn’t do so earlier.

“I had spent my entire adult life working in offices, finding myself looking out windows, wishing I could be out there,” she said. “While I sometimes wish I had found it sooner, I understand my younger self most likely would have given up on the dream because it has taken thousands of hours to get to where I am now.”

Out of the cubicle now, her work is more focused on the quiet scenes she comes across in nature. This focus has similarly drawn her to the garden. Being a Garden Girl to her has meant learning how to grow things and create relaxing and inspiring outdoor spaces, including designing flower bed layouts and creating custom-planted containers.

This has included designing flower bed layouts and creating custom planted containers. Learning about native plants and pollinators has assisted her photographic eye out in the parks and trails. Gardening and photography have been a natural fit, supporting the escape from a brick-and-mortar workplace.

As for what’s next, Campbell continues to explore new subjects in nature. While she isn’t moving on from barns entirely, she enjoys working in parks, stare preserves, gardens, and anywhere she can wander among the plants and trees.

Campbell also is interested in how she has benefited from time outdoors, how that can be captured in the images, and how her work can lead others to experience it for themselves.

This year, she enjoyed her first artist-in-residency, first solo exhibit, and first group exhibit. She serves as Indianola director on the North River Arts Council, a group that fosters connectivity for creatives in Warren County. She looks forward to continuing to build new relationships with other local artists through groups such as NRAC, the Creative Breakfast Club in Des Moines, and the Octagon Center for the Arts in Ames. 

More about her work can be found at https://fencerowphotography.com.