Capturing the “Good Weird” of Benson: BFF Interview with Katera Brown

Photo of Katera by Josh Foo

Katera Brown’s love of photography was born when they strolled on foot around Omaha, phone in hand, practicing photography through the lens of their old Motorola. They quickly became immersed in capturing life around them and turned photography into a full-fledged obsession.

After mastering the way of the Android photographer, Katera was driven to bring their photography to a new level. After they graduated high school, Katera took a leap and purchased their first, shiny Nikon camera with the money they had been saving up since Freshman year. It was a love affair from then on out.

Excited to up their photography skills, Katera decided to join BFF in 2019 as a photography intern under the mentorship of Sarah Hill. It was here that they were able to have the opportunity to practice shooting a wide array of events. Katera was most excited to practice their low light shooting skills during BFF’s night events. One of their favorite recurring assignments is photographing their favorite part of BFF: the artist markets at First Fridays.

Now acting as the Lead Photographer at BFF, Katera uses their trained eye to capture the unique moments of what keeps BFF “good weird.” And there’s a lot of them.

Katera encapsulates the spirit of BFF during a gauntlet of First Friday events; The burlesque and drag performers dancing around The Sydney for Friend of BFF happy hours, the Bensonites cruising through BFF’s art walk, the electricity of the artist markets, the buzz of a mingling crowd at Petshop Art Gallery — and plenty other cherished occasions that would require a novel.

“I think BFF has gotten me out there,” Katera said, referring to having a larger photography presence in the community. “I got to make a lot of progress in my work through BFF.”

Katera’s growth over the last few years is impressive; Not only are they now the commanding photographer at BFF, but their talent and hard work has led them to opportunities in the larger Omaha community. They are most prideful of their photography in exhibits at The Union for Contemporary Art and Kaneko. And, most recently, they got the chance to check an item off of their bucket list: photographing Omaha Fashion Week. To put the cherry on top, Katera has now come full circle, acting as a teacher to new BFF photography interns.

​Check out Katera’s work on Instagram @katera_eatsart and catch them snapping photos at upcoming First Fridays.

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Katera Brown’s photography on a billboard as a part of BFF’s LGBTQIA2S+ Rural Outreach Project