ARTWORKS
Kristen Chipman, the woman behind the lens
born at Jackson Memorial Hospital shortly after it opened in
1918. The familial roots there run deep. As a child, she and
her mother moved around a lot. Much of that moving was
within Miami, so she was often meeting new people from all
over the world. Kristen has always loved people. She loves to
watch, study and interact with them. Being raised in South
Florida gave her a very interesting, global perspective of people
that has carried through to every aspect of her life. When
she was young, with each move to a new home, her mother’s
goal was to make the place that they stayed feel beautiful and
homey. No matter where they lived, her mom took the time
to surround them with things that made them feel good and
art that made their environment pleasing. That very act in-
important to her that I see her home, where she works, lives
and raises her family. I am glad she did because it gave me
some insight into her beautiful, eclectic mind.
Being exposed to so many languages, cultures, art and
music was a dream. She started college in Miami on a minority
scholarship. After much persuasion from her dad, she
took a photography class and was immediately hooked. With
her love and fascination of people and diverse culture, it was
makes them tick. This is a talent that is especially evident
in her work today. Kristen has the ability to pull out the
individuality of each person she shoots. It is how I noticed
her work online and how I soon learned to identify her work
from others.
She worked in the industry as a second shooter off-andon
while attending community college and met Thomas in
Miami when she was nearly 20. They quickly fell in love,
marrying within a year. Shortly after their marriage, Thomas
joined the Army and despite frequent separations those years,
their family grew quickly with the births of their two daughters.
During those early years of motherhood, with Thomas
often gone, with both local deployments and serving in Iraq,
left Kristen alone to care for their girls. Photography and art
fell to the back burner as she struggled through post-partum
depression, but she pushed through, worked hard, and eventually
returned to school. In 2008, she graduated with honors
her family. That same year, Thomas, having returned civilian
life, took a job in Nashville and their family moved. Once
there, she began to work alongside her best friend, who was
already established as a successful wedding photographer.
Kristin worked steadily as a second shooter, perfecting her
believed in her work and often joined in on her solo projects,
giving her ideas, helping her set up, and staying current on
new equipment and technical advances. A few years in, he
approached her with the idea that they should do this on their
own.
For a few yea
years now, there has
FBy Jen Wead
been a photography
photography studio that keeps
catching my eye on social media with
its unique shots of Southern weddings
and hopeful teenagers posing for senior
photos. Many of my friends have
posted outstanding professional shots
of their kids doing incredibly customized
poses for their senior pictures. I
Kristen Chipman
had never seen anything like this, for
a regular kid to be captured in such
a way that made them look like local movie stars, complete
with wardrobe and location changes. I clicked on a few of
these shots to see the artist behind them and found a quirkily
named local business called Plaid Llama Studios.
Checking out their website just made me want to know
more about the studio and the people behind it. Kristen Chipman
is the main artist behind the lens. She and her husband
Thomas partner to make up the business, and, as she says on
her website, they are “a pair of weirdos that just happen to
be happily married to one another.” I ran into the couple one
night while helping Ana Brice Bain on the Splash on 5th Ave
installation in downtown Zephyrhills. The Chipmans arrived
with their beautiful daughter to utilize the dense blackness of
that summer evening, toting big off camera lights and even
bigger imaginations. We actually featured one of those shots
in an earlier issue. That middle of the night meeting of artists
in the dark led to the hope and promise that we would be able
to get together and learn more about what made Kristen tick.
Kristen is third-generation Miami native. She was
brought home from the hospital to the very same house that
her father was brought after his birth. Her grandmother was
takes her photos today.
18 • JAN/FEB 2019 813.682.9364 FLORIDA WOMEN MAGAZINE