Catalina Kulczar, Photographer

12/20/2023

Farewell 2023! ❤️ - https://mailchi.mp/catalinakulczar/daisy-6210191

10/26/2023

Today is the day.

Daisy's world premiere at the Zsigmond Vilmos Film Festival.
My cup runneth over.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cy3aE99qY57/

10/18/2023

Daisy - World Premiere & LATAM Premiere ❤️ - https://mailchi.mp/catalinakulczar/daisy

10/04/2023

For the last 2.5 years, I have been quietly working on a personal short documentary called Daisy.

When the pandemic closed all public pools in New York City, I lost access to the sport I love - swimming. By way of the universe, I was connected to a group of swimmers who took these pool shutdowns as an opportunity to swim at Brighton Beach year-round.

I was intrigued.

December 9, 2021, was my first swim, and a few weeks later, I decided to interview each swimmer, in hopes of making a short documentary on the WHY we swim.

I had interviewed half of the dozen swimmers when my life shattered into a million pieces.

Daisy has been a way to put some of those pieces back together.

This labor of love will have its WORLD PREMIERE on October 26th at the Zsigmond Vilmos Film Festival in Szeged, Hungary.

Daisy is going home.

PS: for more content, updates, festival screenings, behind-the-scenes, you can follow on Instagram.

02/03/2023

The Brooklyn Academy of Music commissioned me to make portraits of actors Oscar Isaac and Rachel Brosnahan for Lorraine Hansberry’s play, The Sign in Sydney Brustein’s Window. Directed by Anne Kauffman, the play opens at BAM tomorrow night.

It was an absolute pleasure to work with both of these actors and create a series of images for social media and print.

Excited to see the play in a few weeks from now!

11/16/2022

Catalina Kulczar for Lincoln Center Out of Doors - https://mailchi.mp/51e303c33620/lincolncenter

10/18/2022

TODAY IS THE DAY that the world can finally watch "Lindsay, Linsdsey, Lyndsay" a beautiful q***r short film I had the honor to DP last summer!

You can watch it here!
https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/761582299

10/13/2022

Thank you The Luupe for featuring me as one of 18 Hispanic and Latin American Women and Non-Binary Photographers To Celebrate and Hire

These photographers have an exciting range of styles, influences, and cultural origins, and are everything but a monolith.

06/08/2022

It just so happened that I swam my very first 10K Mother’s Day this year.

And I say “happened” because when I signed up for this race, last fall, in the midst of a deep depression, I had no clue when this race would be. Just signing up for it gave me hope. It gave me something to look forward to following my Mom’s sudden and unexpected passing on April 8, 2021.

I didn’t train for this race.
I had never swam this distance before. I also knew that the longest I had ever done in my life up this point was 4.5 miles…..12 years ago.

My brain was ready.
My mind was ready.
My body? I had no idea.

And so Juan Miguel, Pia and I traveled to Manta, Ecuador and I swam my first 10K.

On Sunday, May 8, 2022. Mother’s Day.

1 year and 2 months to the day that my Mother went to the stars.

The race was magical.
I felt my Mom every stroke.
Any time I directed my thoughts to her, she sent me what has become a current sign - a bird. Every single EVERY SINGLE TIME that I would chat with her, I would look up, and sure enough, there was a bird. One. Single. Bird. Every. Single. Time.

Throughout my swim, I also struggled, felt frustrated and unsure I was going to complete this distance. And sure enough, when my thoughts turned negative, Mom sent me a bird to encourage me. “You got this” I could hear her say to me.

After 3 hours and 38 minutes, as I emerged from the water - and after swimming the entire race under cloudy skies, wouldn’t you know it, Mom parted the clouds, the sun shone through, Pia found me emerging from the water and together, we crossed the finish line.

Today, June 8, many moons ago, you, Mom, gave me life.

Today I celebrate YOU.
Thank YOU for being my Mom.
Thank YOU for loving me.

I felt you when I grabbed Pia’s hand and saw the look of relief and excitement in her face that I had made it. I felt you when we crossed the finish line.

I feel you now, more than I have these last 14 months and for that I am grateful.

I miss you calling me and singing Happy Birthday, but I know you will come through today by ways of other signs…perhaps a bird or two?

I love you.
I miss you.

Your daughter,
Caty

*****
photo by

04/26/2022

Incredibly proud of these images I created for Lincoln Center's GATHER, a participatory installation about grief, loss and healing.

I loved working with artist Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya (seen here) to create these images.
https://www.lincolncenter.org/series/summer-for-the-city/s/GATHER:%20A%20series%20of%20monuments%20and%20rituals

02/16/2022

Finnegan Shanahan is a brilliant and talented musician, classically trained as a violinist, violist and vocalist.

After my Mother unexpectedly died in April, my mindset shifted and I eventually went from wishing I could do certain things in my life to finally actually doing them. Playing the violin was one of them. MY ENTIRE LIFE, I said how nice it would be to learn to play this beautiful instrument. And I finally did it. I bought a violin and Finnegan has been teaching me to read music and play. This has been one of the most challenging things I have ever done, and my mind melts when I try to read sheet music. I love how difficult this feels and little by little, notes and finger positions are starting to click and I am making progress!

Shortly after we started lessons last fall, I told Finnegan I wanted to make his portrait in his home.

In this basement space, Finnegan draws and makes music with friends, using typical and unexpected instruments, such as building blocks and tennis balls.

What a treat to watch Finnegan in his space and capture his music-making magic.

01/26/2022

A few years ago, I bought the children's illustrated book, Lola, for our daughter Pia. It tells the story of an island in the Caribean, and why Lola and her family emigrated to America. Every time we would read Lola, Pia would point out two girls on the same page and say "Pia y Lucía.”

I really loved the fact that this was the first time that Pia saw HERSELF and her cousin represented in a book.

The illustrations were made by Leo Espinoza (). I immediately started to follow his work and became a huge fan. We connected via IG just before the pandemic and I told him I wanted to make his portrait next time he was in New York. Almost two years later, we finally connected in person in my studio and I was able to capture this kind, funny and brilliant soul.

To top it off, Leo brought Pia a copy of his latest illustrated book, Creature of Habit written by Jennifer Smith. It's a book about habits and what happens when you change things up a bit - I recommend it.

Thank you Leo for your beautiful work and for making such powerful and important work representing people of all shapes, colors, sizes and ethnicities.