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Karen Fox
Karen Fox--Photographer
About Me
Karen Fox, a native of Detroit, Michigan, was born in 1963 to educator parents. She was
exposed at an early age to the joys of music and art. Karen’s father, Clayton E. Fox, a
veteran of World War II and an amateur photographer, would often be seen around
Detroit with young Karen in tow, enjoying his hobby. These wonderful outings with her
father inspired her love of the camera.
Mr. Fox was also an avid jazz fan. Through him Karen developed a deep and life- long
appreciation of the intricate colors and purity of the music. She graduated from Lutheran
West High School in 1981 and earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Fashion and Design
from the Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles California in 1984. After five
successful years as a fashion and design professional in Southern California, Karen
sought new challenges and opportunities in New York City.
Karen enrolled in the Fashion Institute Of Technology of New York (FIT) in 1989,
graduating with a Bachelors Of Art Degree in Patternmaking Technology, minoring in
Photography. Leaving academia, Karen returned to the fashion industry, this time in New
York. With her added skills as a photographer, she persued her love of this art form that
was passed to her from her father, using New York and its fertile jazz scene as her
anchor, studio and muse. From 1992 to 2001 Karen photographed the legends, giants
and new talents in New York’s vibrant jazz scene. She felt a special personal pleasure
that her two loves—music and photography-- were coming together.
Returning to Detroit in 2002 she started Karen Fox Photography. Her photographic
essays of Wynton Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, Wayne Shorter, Sonny Rollins and Lewis
Nash are but a few examples of Karen’s creativity and wide range of artistic expression.
Her sensitive images have appeared in numerous online magazines and blogs, including
National Geographic Online where she is the Detroit correspondent. Currently one of the
photographers for the nationally acclaimed Detroit Symphony Orchestra Paradise Jazz
Series, Karen’s clients also include The Kresge Foundation, The Music Hall and The Carr
Center, all major institutions in Detroit’s rapidly growing creative world.
Her photos are also included in All About Jazz, the Jazz Journalists Association, Jazz
Times Magazine and The Detroit International Jazz Festival, the world’s largest annual
free presentation of the finest in this wonderful genre of music.
Karen was granted the honor of shooting photos for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage
Festival for the second year in a row in 2014. Her two long range projects, now under
way, include a coffee table book chronicling the history of southern juke joints and jazz
music and a photo exhibit, inspired by jazz music, entitled Expressions of Improvisation.
Karen Fox Photography has been a marriage of love and passion for music and
photography for over 20 years.
Karenfoxphotography.zenfolio.com