Anne Krause, Colorado photographer (nice obit by Claire Martin)
orpheus
Photographer Anne Krause, a CU graduate, was best-known for her winter
sports shots and nicknames for her friends.
By Claire Martin
Denver Post Staff Writer
"With Annie, it was nonstop laughter," Max Bervy said of his photo
shoots with Anne Krause, above.
The exuberant outdoor sports photographs by Anne Krause, who died June
11 of pancreatic cancer at age 53, were sought by clients from Warren
Miller Entertainment to Ralph Lauren Polo, and by magazines such as
Outside and Sunset.
Born Nov. 21, 1952, in Bronxville, N.Y., she grew up in Novelty, Ohio,
and later transferred from Miami University to the University of
Colorado at Boulder, where she earned a degree in art history.
During the early part of her photography career, she worked with Rich
Clarkson's National Geographic photography workshop in Jackson Hole,
Wyo., and with wildlife photographer Tom Mangelsen.
She developed a special affection for owls, whose innate aura of
detachment stood in stark contrast to the explosively extreme sports
that became Krause's bread-and-butter photographs. She worked on
several projects for Warren Miller Entertainment, the company whose
movies of suicidal snow exploits annually kick off the new ski season.
"We did a lot of cool stuff together, back in the '90s before her knees
got tired and she migrated from on-the-hill action to other sports that
didn't damage her body so much," said Max Bervy, the company's longtime
producer and director.
"With Annie, it was nonstop laughter."
He recalled working with Krause on a shoot featuring the debut of Ralph
Lauren Polo skiwear. Accustomed to durably stout outdoor clothing made
by Descente, Patagonia and other clients, Bervy and Krause were
dumbstruck when they saw the clothing trucked up to Arapahoe Basin for
the shoot.
Anne Krause's photographs illustrate how she could capture the
wide-ranging spirit of the outdoors.
"We'd hired a dozen models to do winter action, lifestyle, snow
play-type stuff, and the apparel they sent was more designed to go
tubing in - in an indoor Dubai ski resort," Bervy said.
"It was full-on Madison Avenue fashion. Aviator-meets-lingerie kind of
thing. I was, like, 'How are we gonna make THIS work?' Annie was like,
no problem: 'We'll shoot this time of day, get a certain light, shoot
it so it looks really fun.' And she did."
For one sequence, Krause told the models to throw snowballs at each
other, but their half-hearted efforts annoyed her.
"That's not how you throw a snowball," she said, putting down her
camera.
Swiftly, she packed dense wads of snow and began hurtling them at the
models. They squealed with hilarity and a little fear. Krause picked up
her camera again. Bervy described the markedly animated results as
"wonderful lifestyle moments."
Krause, best-known for her winter sports photographs, loved the
dramatic contrasts of skin, snow, fiberglass and color. Her signature
stationery featured her photograph of a red- jacketed skier schussing
between two snowy nebulas, with powder below and a filmy fog above.
Krause was an accomplished bicyclist, hiker, skier and traveler who
shared the lanky build and iconoclastic sensibilities of the models and
jocks she photographed. She nicknamed nearly everyone she befriended.
Bervy was Maximum. His wife, Amie, was Amos. Krause's sister, Susan
Alderson, became "L.D." Aspen ultra-runner and expedition guide Neal
Beidelman,
Anne Krause's photographs illustrate how she could capture the
wide-ranging spirit of the outdoors.
one of Krause's favorite photo subjects, became "Schmeal." Triathlete
Colleen Cannon was "C-Squared."
"She was known for giving nicknames, and if you had one, you were
lucky," said Noel A. Lyons, a veteran of the redoubtable Polo shoot at
Arapahoe Basin.
"An Annie nickname was more than a blessing in disguise, it was your
destiny. Mine was 'Bells.' What a ring to it!"
Krause never married. She doted on her nieces and nephews. She used
them, and other relatives, as models for catalog and magazine
photographs, which kept them more than amply outfitted in upscale
outdoor clothing and gear.
In addition to her sister, survivors include parents Robert and Dorothy
Krause of Dublin, Ohio, and brother Robert "Petey" Krause of Atlanta.
A celebration of her life will be held at 4 p.m. July 16 at the Red
Lion Inn, 38472 Canyon Drive, Boulder.
Staff writer Claire Martin can be reached at 303-820-1477 or
cma...@denverpost.com.