Photographer Nia Karmann has showcased her art at Kearney’s Art in the Park for several years. She and I met at the 2021 gathering, where I became another of what she calls the-friends and followers-she has met there over the years.

You have only to meet her to know becoming an accomplished photographer has not been the easiest of paths she could have chosen to follow. Born with Spina Bifada, she is true to her claim that-I’ve never let that stop me from doing whatever it takes to capture the perfect picture.

She adds-I have climbed rocks, and cliffs, tackled several flights of stairs and done whatever physically possible and sometimes almost impossible to capture my photos.

As one example she cites her trip to New Zealand where she was determined to, in her words, conquer the endless number-of slippery stairs to capture photos in a cave. Not, however, the end of the story. On her way out-she notes-I slipped again and this time my shoe fell into the raging river. Still not the end of the story. Believe it or not, she relates, by the time I emerged from the cave, a friendly gentleman from our tour was holding my shoe.

Even before showing at Art in the Park, her family had many get-togethers in Kearney for shopping and Cruise Nights while she was growing up. Later, with friends in college here, she often joined them for shopping, attending concerts, or going to hockey games and ice skating.

One of her first Kearney showings was where lots of breakfasters have enjoyed displays of photographs, the mini-gallery we here know as Darci’s Breakfast Cart. That showing became the beginning of a long-running friendship between Darci Kuhnel and Nia.

You can learn more about Nia, her studio, and her photography by visiting her Website – www.nyestreetstudio.com – or by searching for Nye Street Studio Photography on Facebook and Instagram.