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Photographer Kim Ponsky gives Cleveland a shot
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BY: ARLENE FINE, Staff Reporter
Kim Ponsky could be a poster girl for the initiative to bring Jewish singles back to Cleveland.
A professional photographer, Ponsky could also take the picture.
Last May, the Moreland Hills native and daughter of Jackie and Dr. Jeff Ponsky, left the bustling Washington, D.C., area to reconnect with her hometown roots.
“My instincts told me to come back to Cleveland,” she says. “And I always follow my instincts.”
With her professional Nikon camera gear in tow and a belief in her ability to earn a living as a professional photographer here, Ponsky, 26, settled into an airy apartment on W. 9th and opened a studio at Cedar and Lee in Cleveland Heights.
Ponsky became interested in photography when she was an 11th-grader at Hathaway Brown. “Looking through my camera lens, I discovered a new form of expression,” she says. “I realized that photography was the one thing in my life I could be passionate about.”
While getting her undergraduate degree from Brandeis, where she majored in politics and minored in journalism, she participated in photography exhibitions. “Best of Student” and “Best of Show” were some of the awards she won.
After Ponsky spent a year-and-a-half in law school, she realized the legal profession was not for her. “I knew that my heart was in photography, not in law books.”
She went on to study photography at Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington, D.C. “I needed an academic and technical background to validate myself,” she says. After graduation Ponsky went to Chicago where she was mentored by a photographer who specialized in poignant, expressive photos of young children and their families.
Ponsky related to this photographic style because it reminded her of the way her idol, photographer Dorothea Lange, approached her subjects. “Lange was a photographer during the Depression and captured the emotions of the people in a visual rather than literal form,” says Ponsky. “She found great truth behind her camera lens.”
As Ponsky takes either black-and-white or color photos of children, pregnant women and families, she approaches her subjects with a sentimental eye. “I think about the effect the pictures will have on the viewers, and I frame an image that will have emotional impact,” she explains.
As for taking pictures of pregnant women, Ponsky says she finds great beauty in the feminine form. “I enjoy taking pictures of a very pregnant mom, followed by the baby at birth, and then at six months and at a year.”
Recently, Ponsky returned from Honduras, where she traveled with her family on behalf of MedWish, an organization founded by her brother Lee that provides medical supplies to Third World countries. “It was an amazing experience to explore this beautiful country and document it with my camera’s eye,” she says.
Meanwhile, Ponsky is delighted to be in Cleveland and is thrilled with her trendy apartment complex filled with young professionals like herself.
She is pleasantly surprised about the social scene in Cleveland, especially in the downtown area. “There aren’t as many singles here as there are in Chicago, New York and D.C., but there are plenty of people to date,” says Ponsky. “I’m having fun and meeting lots of new people; however, my grandmother won’t be satisfied until I bring home that nice Jewish boy.”
The singles’ activities provided by Jewish Community Federation and the local task force aimed at revitalizing Cleveland, Strengthen and Grow Jewish Cleveland, have also prompted Ponsky’s active involvement.
As she happily reenters Cleveland’s city life and pursues her career, she is mindful of her parents’ advice.
“They told me to work hard and be passionate about what I do,” she says. “I’m lucky to be able to passionately pursue my dream here in Cleveland.”
afine@cjn.org
A professional photographer, Ponsky could also take the picture.
Last May, the Moreland Hills native and daughter of Jackie and Dr. Jeff Ponsky, left the bustling Washington, D.C., area to reconnect with her hometown roots.
“My instincts told me to come back to Cleveland,” she says. “And I always follow my instincts.”
With her professional Nikon camera gear in tow and a belief in her ability to earn a living as a professional photographer here, Ponsky, 26, settled into an airy apartment on W. 9th and opened a studio at Cedar and Lee in Cleveland Heights.
Ponsky became interested in photography when she was an 11th-grader at Hathaway Brown. “Looking through my camera lens, I discovered a new form of expression,” she says. “I realized that photography was the one thing in my life I could be passionate about.”
While getting her undergraduate degree from Brandeis, where she majored in politics and minored in journalism, she participated in photography exhibitions. “Best of Student” and “Best of Show” were some of the awards she won.
After Ponsky spent a year-and-a-half in law school, she realized the legal profession was not for her. “I knew that my heart was in photography, not in law books.”
She went on to study photography at Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington, D.C. “I needed an academic and technical background to validate myself,” she says. After graduation Ponsky went to Chicago where she was mentored by a photographer who specialized in poignant, expressive photos of young children and their families.
Ponsky related to this photographic style because it reminded her of the way her idol, photographer Dorothea Lange, approached her subjects. “Lange was a photographer during the Depression and captured the emotions of the people in a visual rather than literal form,” says Ponsky. “She found great truth behind her camera lens.”
As Ponsky takes either black-and-white or color photos of children, pregnant women and families, she approaches her subjects with a sentimental eye. “I think about the effect the pictures will have on the viewers, and I frame an image that will have emotional impact,” she explains.
As for taking pictures of pregnant women, Ponsky says she finds great beauty in the feminine form. “I enjoy taking pictures of a very pregnant mom, followed by the baby at birth, and then at six months and at a year.”
Recently, Ponsky returned from Honduras, where she traveled with her family on behalf of MedWish, an organization founded by her brother Lee that provides medical supplies to Third World countries. “It was an amazing experience to explore this beautiful country and document it with my camera’s eye,” she says.
Meanwhile, Ponsky is delighted to be in Cleveland and is thrilled with her trendy apartment complex filled with young professionals like herself.
She is pleasantly surprised about the social scene in Cleveland, especially in the downtown area. “There aren’t as many singles here as there are in Chicago, New York and D.C., but there are plenty of people to date,” says Ponsky. “I’m having fun and meeting lots of new people; however, my grandmother won’t be satisfied until I bring home that nice Jewish boy.”
The singles’ activities provided by Jewish Community Federation and the local task force aimed at revitalizing Cleveland, Strengthen and Grow Jewish Cleveland, have also prompted Ponsky’s active involvement.
As she happily reenters Cleveland’s city life and pursues her career, she is mindful of her parents’ advice.
“They told me to work hard and be passionate about what I do,” she says. “I’m lucky to be able to passionately pursue my dream here in Cleveland.”
afine@cjn.org
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