Every image Sydney Smolla takes has a deeper meaning.
Through photography and filmmaking, the University of Nebraska at Kearney alumna creates powerful narratives about people, the planet and their connection both locally and globally.
A documentary storyteller, photographer and filmmaker based in Durango, Colorado, Smolla uses a variety of visual communications to explore the relationship between humans and the natural world. Her work is often centered on environmental advocacy and female empowerment and is shaped by her own experiences living in Gallup, New Mexico.
“Traveling and living in other places opens your mind to other ways of living,” Smolla said. “Living in New Mexico, in a town surrounded by the Navajo Nation and other pueblos, I was invited into the lives of people who are resilient and taught me a new way of life. Although this didn’t come at first, I had to learn to question everything I thought I knew about the history of our country, and I started to process that through photography and asking questions.”
Having lived in rural areas of the Southwest and Midwest for 10-plus years, her eye for photography developed when looking for beauty in the unexpected and everyday moments. Seeing life with this lens, she began to find stories yet untold – stories of resilience and tension between history and present day. Now, she’s connecting it all using photography and filmmaking to inspire change.
“I have witnessed photography alter the way people think of themselves for the better, and I have also witnessed creative storytelling inspire change on a local and global level,” Smolla said.
Finding her focus
Originally from Omaha, Smolla started looking at colleges while still unsure of what she wanted to study. That uncertainty faded after a conversation with UNK photography professor Derrick Burbul.
“I met with Derrick Burbul at my college visit to UNK. This was the first time I had met a teacher who I felt understood my creative way of thinking,” she recalled. “When talking with him, I remember thinking, this is the school I want to go to.”
Smolla majored in journalism and minored in photography, allowing her to explore creative storytelling through both visual and written mediums. Her professors in both the communication and art departments became a strong support system.
“Although Sydney only minored in photography, she took more classes than needed, and that curiosity behind the work drove her to the success she has today,” Burbul said. “It’s always fun to have students like her who really want to understand and explore the things you’re teaching.”
During her senior year, Smolla found a new direction through Mary Harner, a communication professor who works with Platte Basin Timelapse, a project that uses time-lapse photography and multimedia storytelling to highlight watersheds and conservation efforts along the Platte River.
“Dr. Harner was hugely influential to me in starting a passion for conservation photography,” Smolla said. “She got me involved with the Summit Workshop, where I had the opportunity to photograph sandhill cranes during the migration and learn from Michael Forsberg, Melissa Groo and Dave Showalter about conservation photography. I look back on that week as the moment I learned exactly what I wanted to do.”
Meaningful work
After graduating in 2018, Smolla worked for natural resources districts in Sidney and North Platte doing creative communications work before relocating with her husband to New Mexico, where she immersed herself in the beautiful landscapes of the Southwest and began creating documentary-style work highlighting people, nature and the interconnected relationship between the two. That experience deepened her appreciation for human connection and the power of storytelling.
Her creative work has since evolved into a blend of photography, filmmaking, public speaking and education. Now living in Colorado, Smolla has collaborated with artists, musicians, organizations and mission-driven brands to create projects rooted in advocacy and empowerment. Her imagery features the rugged landscapes of the Southwest and her international travels, inviting viewers to see beauty and responsibility in the world around them.
Smolla educates both online and through in-person artist talks. She also invests in passion projects focused on nature and human advocacy and offers female empowerment sessions. These portrait sessions celebrate confidence and personal transformation using creative portraiture, storytelling and lighting to empower women.
Her work has been shared by Sony Alpha Female on Instagram and showcased in exhibitions in the Southwest and in Taiwan for the ColorPro Awards. She was also featured in the Picture America series by Adorama on their YouTube channel.
Coming home with a new view
Years later, Smolla continues to credit UNK faculty for giving her the tools to find her creative voice and providing support long after graduation.
“As a creative person paving your own path and pursuing your passion for work, you really run into a lot of roadblocks. I still have connections with my professors from UNK,” Smolla said. “Derrick Burbul still to this day provides ideas for grants, galleries and contests to apply to that will help provide funding for the work I am bringing to life.”
When she returned to campus last spring to speak with current communication students, Smolla encouraged them to pursue their passions and follow their instincts – advice that mirrors her own journey.
“Sydney’s talk of her personal story benefited students greatly,” Harner said. “Speaking to the class about the differences in everyone’s journey and how to make time for passion projects is something students need to hear.”
Today, whether she is traveling abroad in Iceland, car camping in the desert or photographing landscapes in the mountains, Smolla continues to build creative work that fuses art and advocacy to inspire change.
