The River Bridges was a stalled effort until a fateful meeting of two moms somewhere between the baseball and lacrosse fields where kindergarten friends were practicing their separate sports. The littles stopped each other in passing – one donning a glove, the other carrying a stick, so the author, Jill-Arcangela, made the acquaintance of Kristina and her husband, Tim. Instantly feeling like they had much to talk about, the two arranged a time to get to know one another while the boys played. Jill-A. shared her idea for the blog, which was struggling without a photographer, and Kristina was thrilled at the prospect. The rest will be history…
The River Bridges photos are shot exclusively by Kristina Gibb (D’Amico) who began her career in photography by capturing snapshots early on in high school and giving the small drugstore prints to her friends. She joined the school’s photography club, which fostered a partnership with a Washington D.C. public elementary school that put cameras in the hands of children. There, she mentored a young girl, and the photographs she captured of the child using a camera ran in The Washington Post. After that defining moment, she made photography her lifetime pursuit.
Kristina studied Art Photography and Photojournalism at Syracuse University. After she graduated in 2004, she took a gap year, working for a local photographer Jo Ann Simmons who primarily did weddings and portraiture in their Virginia hometown. From there, she went on to the School of Visual Arts in New York City, moving there in 2005, to work on her masters degree.
After the birth of her daughter in 2007, Kristina decided the art world was off the table temporarily. She needed to provide, and she started marketing her photography services to other new parents in Brooklyn, where she resided in 2008. Local families began calling on her to take portraits of their children and document milestone events like weddings, birthdays, and religious ceremonies. After living and working in Brooklyn for 10 years, she had a well established business, with repeat clients – families she has been documenting for years. However, change was on the horizon again. Her family had grown and the kids were growing up. Everyone needed more space to live and work than their small, 2 bedroom apartment provided. Sights were set on beautiful, pastoral Solebury, PA because of its proximity to New York City, inspiring landscape, and excellent schools for her children. In August 2018, with mixed emotions, the family left the city, and set up in a new, very different place.
Kristina is particularly excited about the River Bridges project because it is introducing her to so many local people and places in her new and much beloved community.
The River Bridges 