Six year ago when Dana Klein set out on a cross country RV trip with her family she wasn’t looking to put down new roots. Having called South Carolina home for 15 years, Klein and her family were simply looking to explore the Western United States. Yet by the end of the summer, the Klein family seemingly fell into calling Park City their new home.

Although Klein had uprooted most of her life, her career and passions followed close behind. A self taught conceptual portrait photographer, Klein continues to work as a photographer among a variety of other projects. One of her most recognizable works is Project SHINE.

Project SHINE originated back in Charleston as a way for Klein to help lift her best friend’s spirits as she was recovering from a double mastectomy and hysterectomy. Deciding on a fun girl’s day photoshoot, the women got their hair and makeup done and enjoyed each other’s company, not thinking anything else would come from it.

“Two weeks later, she came back and I wanted to show her pictures, and she just broke down in tears. It was then that I realized how important it was for her to see herself as feminine and beautiful after all the cancer had taken from her.”

A little while later Klein had gathered a team of makeup artists and hairstylists along with another five cancer survivors who wanted to take part.

Since then, Project SHINE has evolved to include an additional storytelling aspect: ”I really wanted to dive deep into these women’s stories. I wanted to find an uplifting word that they related to within their journey through treatment. They all picked a theme word and we created storytelling around it.”

Klein finds that the most essential part of her art is the story being told through it: “I'm obsessed with storytelling. I want to know your story and then when you're telling your story I'm already [seeing visuals] in my mind.”

Having grown up a shy child and still considering herself an introvert, Klein finds that visual storytelling “has given me an outlet to express myself but also tell other people’s stories in a way they maybe hadn’t thought of before.”

One story in particular stands out in Klein’s memory. Ginger Johnson was the subject of the first photoshoot Klein shot after moving to Utah. The founder of Happy Chemo and Utah Cancer Connection Magazine, Johnson’s theme word was ‘hope’.

“We did the photoshoot and a couple years later, her cancer came back. She’s no longer with us and her family reached out to use the images for her service. It was the first time I heard feedback from the family [about the images]. I didn’t realize how powerful it was for her. She would look at this image of herself in her home everyday to gain strength from it.”

Klein continues her work through Project SHINE, aiming to photograph 25 to 30 women by 2023 in order to develop the image collection into a book.

Project SHINE isn’t the only creative endeavor she’s currently working on. Klein’s newest collection Moose & Magpies features eight large pieces detailing the friendship between the two creatures.

Since moving to the area Klein and her family have been intrigued by the scenery and wildlife, something they hadn’t seen much of back in Charleston. Having noticed the moose and magpies hanging out around their home, Klein started to notice: “wherever I saw a moose, I saw a magpie. So there’s some connection there and I just thought how can I make a collection out of the friendship between them.”

To check out a preview of this collection make sure to head to Klein’s website or stop by her upcoming pop-up art show on September 10th! Hosted at the Park City Gardens Greenhouse from 9am to 4pm enjoy viewing the entire collection while taking a stroll through the garden.

Dana Klein // Local Artist Creating Meaningful Storytelling Through Photography