KEV FILMORE
SHORT BIOGRAPHY

Kev Filmore is an artist and teacher whose bond with young people has infused her work with vitality and a contemporary awareness. Her work with high school students made her realize that most of these young people exist in an almost dream state, in a temporary holding pattern teetering between childhood and the adult world. Filmore holds up a mirror for these young people to see themselves and in doing so, she allows us to see them as well.

Kev realized from earliest childhood that she "could see things differently than other people saw them. I could see shadows turning and the way light described the shape of people's faces." She crafted a world for herself with artistic expression at its center. As an art student in Philadelphia, Kev's energy was boundless. Majoring in illustration, she could just as easily be found in the wood shop, the printmaking lab, and above all, the darkroom. She combined photography with drawing to create riveting images describing aspects of the human condition. As a senior, her series on masks and how people hide behind them won her the prestigious Eli Award for Excellence.

As a professional working in New York City, and later in Westchester County, Filmore has continued her love affair with people. Her readiness with camera, notebook, and a willing ear has allowed her to connect in a special way with her subjects. She works on one or two themes at a time, and immerses herself in the project at hand. A Hunter College ethnographic research project involved photographing children in the Bathgate section of the Bronx for two years. Other key projects include a series on older women, autism, and children in day care. In her current "Dreamers" series, Kev draws on her experience as a mother and educator of teenagers to explore the adolescent's search for direction and identity while pursuing personal hopes and dreams.

As a child, Filmore set up a "classroom" for her sister and taught her drawing and painting. It may have been a childhood game, but Filmore says, "I had a complete studio set up, and I was actually teaching. I was eleven years old." She has been teaching photography and foundation art classes at Convent of the Sacred Heart in Greenwich, Connecticut for the past seven years. Previously, Kev taught in Westchester County's BOSES program for ten years mentoring at-risk students, and taught numerous art and photography classes for children and adults in private and public programs. Kev co-founded a community art center in Westchester County NY, which currently offers more than 30 classes.

Filmore was the recipient of the 2005 Golden Light Award for Portraiture for her Dreamers series, and has been featured in numerous one person and group shows. She has received two New York State Foundation grants for community based photographic projects. Filmore fills her creative pipeline every summer by taking courses at The Maine Photography Workshop, where she has studied with Douglas Holleley, Sarah Leen, Cig Harvey, Christopher James, Craig Stevens, and Joyce Tenneson.