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Open Swim welcomes Karen Haberberg
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The award-winning director/photographer joins for both live-action and live-action/print combo projects, kicking off with a new campaign for Empower Federal Credit Union.
Open Swim has announced the signing of award-winning director/photographer Karen Haberberg for both live-action and live-action/print combo projects, kicking off with a new campaign for Empower Federal Credit Union.
Known for her honest and impactful studio portraiture and documentary-style photography, Haberberg’s work has been featured in ABC News, Good Morning America and Huffington Post, among others. She has earned numerous awards, including Annual Photography Awards, Juliet Margaret Cameron Awards, Pollux Award and more.
“Karen is not only an extraordinary talent, but she is a lovely person,” shares EP Amyliz Pera. “We have been working together unofficially for years, sharing a love of the craft. I knew everyone would feel the way I do about her. Karen is not an add-on when she’s working with us — she is part of the core Open Swim team. On our recent Empower shoot, she and the director [Marc André Debruyne] really had each other’s backs — sometimes the shooter needs to be a fly on the wall, but in this case, it was 'all hands on deck', and throughout the day, they were both fully capturing content.”
Haberbergs career in healthcare photography really blossomed with her first published book, An Ordinary Day: Kids With Rare Genetic Conditions, inspired by the loss of her brother. She works globally on video and photography projects across many genres, including corporate, pharma, hospitality, lifestyle and travel.
An active board member of American Society of Media Professionals and several other organizations, she teaches photography, lectures nationwide and has collaborated with iconic photographers including Annie Leibovitz, Elliot Erwitt, Joyce Tenneson and Bruce Davidson. Her empathetic approach to exploring human connection has led to her work being published and exhibited internationally. To balance the often heavy nature of the subject matter she works on, she also works late at night photographing stars or landscapes, which are featured in exhibitions and sold as fine art.
“Working with the Open Swim team is seamless because we all have similar work styles,” expresses Haberberg. “There is no room for egos when we’re on set, and I love that. Sometimes I’m shooting stills or directing, and sometimes I’m capturing social or drone footage. Amyliz and I have worked on a lot of different kinds of productions over the years, including my second commissioned healthcare book After That Day: Stories of Epilepsy. With the way we naturally collaborate, we all find ourselves working together one way or another – so it’s nice to give our relationship this kind of focus.”
Along with the Empower project, Haberberg recently completed directing a promotion for Nutrafol via Open Swim. Her upcoming projects with Open Swim include a fresh campaign for skincare brand StriVectin and a series of stills for a healthcare client through agency Heartbeat, both directed by Open Swim founder/director, Bradley Ross.
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