Carol Grow Johnk was told once that taking pictures separated photographers from what is going on around them – that the camera created a barrier between the world and the person behind the lens.

She dares to disagree. For her, photography is all about connecting:

Photography is my way of staying involved in the world around me. This craft, this art, makes me more aware of what is out there, and how much beauty surrounds us all the time.

She also considers herself an archivist, preserving events and moments so memories can always be called back, at the sight of a photograph – thus, connecting past and present.

Her passion for photography first came out of her passion for dance. At a tango afternoon several years ago, she was bewitched by the light from the huge windows on the wood floor and the beauty of the dancing feet. She then started taking pictures of the swirling yet synchronized steps, only to be amazed that others thought those pictures were beautiful. Somehow, she found she could connect people with dance through her own visual art.

Her passion for taking pictures has only grown with new opportunities to find connections . . . with the beauty of a nearby bird mecca, Cone's Marsh . . . with the faces of high school seniors and tiny babies . . . with that ever-expanding world at the other end of her camera lens.

Oh, yes – about that lens. When it was broken for awhile, she discovered how hard it was not to be taking pictures:

When I got my camera back, it was such a relief. I was connected to the world again. My hands are happiest when they are holding a camera . . . .