Watching a Car Crash: How Biedler Finds Beauty in the Creepy
By: Satchit Dahal
Staff Writer
Photographer Jonica Biedler does not shy away from darker genres and captures the beauty of creepy in her photos.
Being the daughter of a photographer, playing with cameras has been both a passion and a hobby from an early age for Biedler.
This youthful passion started to gain more structure when she received an old film camera from her dad: “It was at that point where my photos started to change from being just a picture,” said Biedler.
Moving around a lot growing up, Biedler got to experience three different high schools, the last of which being situated in Honolulu, where she also graduated from.
After carrying her camera around with her and taking pictures of her friends, she quickly became known as the local paparazzi.
From taking pictures of birds, moths, and icicles while going on trips with her dad to capturing pieces to “manipulate the emotions of a piece to initiate a reaction from others.”
Biedler has paved a beautiful road with talent and hard work. Her love and appreciation for art does not just stop at photography. She also enjoys drawing, painting, pottery, oil pastels, and 3D arts.
As the list went on and on, Biedler said, “I don’t make stamps. Yet.”
Being fascinated with the peculiarity of things, her main goal as a photographer is to be able to reproduce unsettling emotions and convey it to her viewers.
Talking more about her fascination with horror, “there’s always a dark side to a movie or a story that you see,” Biedler said.
The magnetism and appeal that she finds in the eerie is like watching a car crash. “It’s horrifying to look at, but you also don’t want to look away,” she said.
Inspired by the eccentric filmmaker, Tim Burton, who is known for his gothic style of work, Biedler’s recent portfolio encompasses lots of macabre works. In one of her photos, titled, “IT”, she put clown make up on her 10-year-old niece Meya. She was inspired by the movie of the same title to create this piece. The use of black and white along with the application of clown makeup on a 10-year-old is quite scary to look at.
Biedler does a great job of finding things deadly within the beautiful. To be able to make people feel things just by looking at a picture is an amazing feat. People experience such strong emotions, such as fear, so her talent of giving viewers goosebumps is an even bigger accomplishment.
“I like it when people look at my pictures and…it gave them nightmares,” she said.
Determined to achieve perfection and truly to make people feel creeped out but intrigued, Biedler spends a lot of time coming up with ideas for her photos, taking them, and editing them.
Biedler believes that it is not about how expensive the camera is, but rather it is all about what photographers are trying to capture and how they position the camera.
An important lesson in life about different perspectives could be learned from her ideas about what makes a good photographer. She advises interested students to take the beginner photography classes at Green River since they helped her out in her journey.
However, being a talented artist is not the only thing Biedler can put down on her resume. Originally, she wanted to become an art teacher, but since her love for kids outshone her interest in teaching, she decided to explore the road of art therapy.
She is currently working on her degree to become a Child Psychologist specializing in art therapy. She wants to use different types of art mediums as means of communication to assist children who have dealt with traumatic experiences.
With her unique style of photography and her choice of a future career, one would say Bieldler’s future looks bright.
