Kirsten Heerdt’s photography featured at library

Kirsten Heerdt's photographs will be on display at the Mt. Pleasant Public Library as part of a showcase sponsored by Mt. Pleasant Arts IMPACT.

Local artists are featured on a rotating basis displaying their work. From October to November, it will be Heerdt's turn.

Her work features dramatic silhouettes and close-up photographs from around Southeast Iowa and beyond.

In the past, Heerdt has worked with the Mt. Pleasant Arts IMPACT group to organize the Colors of Summer Art Show that aids the Friends of Henry County Health Center. The event allows local artists to display their work in the Iowa Wesleyan University art gallery.

"I was honored to be asked by Arts IMPACT to display my work in the library," she said.

Heerdt, who is originally from Centennial, Colorado, grew up with a love for photos.

"I've been taking pictures for as long as I can remember," Heerdt said. "My grandfather was a hobby photographer, as are my parents. My dad and I both have videography and video editing on our resumes. I earned a BA from Colorado State University in Electronic Reporting, which was, at the time, another way to say television reporting. I helped create a campus television station at CSU and thought telling stories through video would be my future."

After college, she used her video skills while working for the United States Forest Service in their Public Affairs Department for the Rocky Mountain Region.

Heerdt started to use a camera more often after moving from Florida to Iowa.

During her time in Mt. Pleasant, she was a Community Living Editor for the Mt. Pleasant News, a freelance reporter, and the editor to The Chaff, the Midwest Old Threshers quarterly publication.

Heerdt hasn’t been taking photos around the area for too long.

"It wasn't until the last five years that I have taken to traveling the gravel roads of Southeast Iowa and honing my landscape photography skills," she said.

For Heerdt, the most rewarding thing is when the photos come together.

"The best part of taking photos is when everything comes together and what you saw in the viewfinder is what you see in the photo," she said." I am not big into editing. I believe in doing things right when you take the picture. Perhaps that comes from learning the art with film. In my high school class, we loaded our own black and white film and were given a 12-exposure roll to shoot our assignments. You tried to make each shot count. It wasn't until the film was developed that you knew if you had something."

Comments: hunter.moeller@southeastiowaunion.com