Today we’d like to introduce you to Kat Mueller.
Hi Kat, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I am from Madison WI and ended up in LA after a bit of film school in Chicago in my 20s. I’ve lived in LA now longer than I’ve lived anywhere else, 23 years! My Mom was a minister in the episcopal church and my dad the church organist so I grew up in an actively religious family which was at the same time quite liberal. My mom was a strong feminist example in my life and was a spiritual guide for many people. I think this is how the Yoga Teacher in me eventually emerged. I also just celebrated my 10th year as a portrait photographer specializing in corporate and small business headshots as well as creative portraits for graduating seniors. I spent a few years in film school and then about 15 years behind the camera as a camera assistant on Movies and TV. Emerging from that life I suddenly had a wealth of technical knowledge that now came naturally. Following the birth of my two children, I had a new-found sense of self as a parent which led to learning how to live in the moment and less fear around being creative-
thus my photography career was born.
In January 2020 I decided to take a 200-hour yoga teacher training with my friend Keely at Kule Yoga & Ayurveda. Little did I know that it would become such an important part of my year as all of the photography work went away with the pandemic. I was able to take a deep dive into Yoga philosophy and truly devote my days to practicing yoga whether I was moving in it or reading about it. I recently finished my advanced 300-hour yoga training with Tara Napoli at Tara Yoga in Pasadena, which really took my understanding of yoga to another level. I’ve leaned into devotional chanting and how to use yoga as an emotional therapy. I now teach 4 yoga classes a week. 2 at Kule Yoga and Ayurveda and 2 at TaraYoga.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I have always lived my life by jumping into what I feel called towards and figuring out how to swim through the new situations. I wouldn’t call any of it a struggle, just lessons that have been learned.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
In my photography life, I mostly photograph people who are not comfortable in front of the camera. I know, it’s hilarious that I’ve found this niche, which seems weird here but let me tell you, and we definitely outnumber the ones who are comfortable in front of the camera. So, with these people who I photograph, who are mostly lawyers, small business owners, authors and such, I place a lot of emphasis on making sure they feel comfortable in my presence and thus in front of the camera. I try to take the mystery out of it as much as possible and work on getting an authentic look from them. This involves a lot of silly banter as well as good lighting! The greatest compliment I get it that I have captured someone’s essence. That’s when I know I’ve really done my job.
In Yoga, I think I’m known for having fun, strong classes. I like to play loud music along with our movement to help us get out of our self-consciousness, I like to laugh in my classes and eschew perfectionism. I want people to come back again and again because they are having fun, because if that’s the case, then they have formed a habit of coming to practice without it seeming like something they “have to do” because they heard it’s “supposed to be good for them,” you know? In yoga, it’s all about the consistency and the tuning into your deepest sense of self to see what gets revealed. Your body does yoga your way and your objective should be to notice how it changes with consistency. I will make sure you’re doing it so you don’t hurt yourself but I don’t believe yoga class should be a place where you leave feeling like you did something wrong. After we work hard doing yoga asanas we take an extended meditation time which also includes mantra and a bit of call-and-response Kirtan. I find that this is a great way to finish, with a bit of mysticism and prayer.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
I think the AI trend is going to take us to some incredible breakthroughs in photography which I can’t even imagine what they will be. I already implement a lot of powerful AI into my editing workflow and I’m interested to see what comes next.
Contact Info:
- Website: katmphoto.com
- Instagram: @katm.photo
- Other: https://www.tarayogapasadena.com/ https://kuleyoga.com/
Image Credits
All photos copyright of KathrynMueller, Photographer LLC
