Kathleen Michael was born in New York. After discovering she was not fashion journalist material, she left the Fashion Institute of Technology and moved to San Francisco. There the free environment inspired her to follow her creative spirit and study Middle Eastern dance and photography. Dance allowed her to express emotion and sensuality through her body and photography enabled her to capture their essence visually.

Middle Eastern dance was an outlet for the ancient woman in her being and photography was the modern, focussed masculine side of her dual creativity. Kathleen does, however, integrate her feminine viewpoint in her photographic work. Taking the advice of her photography professor, Ingeborg Gerdes, she believes that the power of instinct is an essential element in creating a photograph.

After her mother's death, Kathleen left the U.S. with a one-way ticket to Europe and the life of an artist. While pursuing her art and guarding her freedom, she lived and worked in Florence, Malta, Paris and London. A turn of fate brought her to Berlin, where she has been able to put down roots and develop her creativity. Throughout all her adventures, her camera has been her constant companion, capturing images of life that are both haunting and provocative.

Exhibitions

"Pandora's Box", Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol, England, 1984
"Transformations", Hamburg, Germany, 1993
"Steirian Autumn", Graz, Austria, 1998
"A Poetic View of a Feminine Dance", Berlin, Germany, 2000
"Body Parts", 8th Gay Photo Award, Berlin, Germany, 2003
"Madame Négligé", Berlin, Germany, 2012
"Coast to Coast: Light and Shadow in America 2017",
Monat der Fotografie-Off, Berlin, Germany, 2018

Multimedia Dance Production

"Goodnight Irene", Berlin, Germany, 2004, 2008, 2009
→  www.expression-orientale.de

Documantary

1st Oriental Dance Festival Europe, Frankfurt/Main, Germany, 1989

Publications

"Silent Light", Artists' Cards, London, England, 1984
"Belly Dance", Mosaik Publishers, 1989
"Naked", Feierabend Publishers, Berlin, Germany, 2004
"Brennpunkt", Magazin für Fotografie, 2008, 2012

Awards

First Place, 8th Gay Photo Award, "Body Parts", Berlin, Germany, 2003