Christian Riven-Michael Kinkle (b. 1999) is a self-taught film photographer born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. His practice is rooted in the importance of noticing. He finds and preserves the fleeting, unrepeatable moments of everyday life without staging or altering them, offering viewers a way to recognize that same quiet beauty in their own lives. Capturing both the mundane and the monumental in a poetic register, his photographs function as an ongoing, intimate record of his own existence.

Kinkle's interest in photography began informally, documenting his surroundings on his phone throughout his youth. He went on to earn his undergraduate degree in Finance from Western Carolina University in 2022. It was during this time that his interest in photography deepened: after receiving his first camera as a gift from his mother in 2020, he took on a product photography role the following year at the jewelry store Gold-n-Clipper in nearby Highlands, North Carolina, while completing Introductory Photography and Photography II coursework at WCU, his first formal exposure to film and a period that sharpened his technical foundation. He later returned to and fully adopted film photography after rediscovering a Ricoh KR-5 Super given to him in his youth, which remains central to his practice today.

Kinkle first exhibited publicly in 2024, when his photograph O God My Heart Is Ready was shown in the group exhibition Echoes of the Diaspora at Callanwolde Fine Arts Center. The same photograph was later included in the inaugural exhibition of the DeKalb Council for the Arts in 2026 at Metro City Church in Atlanta. That year, Kinkle returned to Callanwolde Fine Arts Center for his debut solo exhibition and artist residency, O God My Heart Is Ready, a body of work made between 2022 and 2025. His work is forthcoming in New South Vol. II, published by the Atlanta Center for Photography, later this year.

Kinkle will begin graduate study in the MFA Photography program at Parsons School of Design in 2027.

Kinkle's interest in photography began informally, documenting his surroundings on his phone throughout his youth. He went on to earn his undergraduate degree in Finance from Western Carolina University. It was during this time that his interest in photography deepened: after receiving his first camera as a gift from his mother in 2020, he took on a product photography role the following year at the jewelry store Gold-n-Clipper in nearby Highlands, North Carolina, while completing Introductory Photography and Photography II coursework, his first formal exposure to film and a period that sharpened his technical foundation. He later returned to and fully adopted film photography after rediscovering a Ricoh KR-5 Super given to him in his youth, which remains central to his practice today.

Kinkle first exhibited publicly in 2024, when his photograph O God My Heart Is Ready was shown in the group exhibition Echoes of the Diaspora at Callanwolde Fine Arts Center. The same photograph was later included in the inaugural exhibition of the DeKalb County for the Arts program at Metro City Church in Atlanta in 2026. That year, Kinkle returned to Callanwolde Fine Arts Center for his debut solo exhibition and artist residency, O God My Heart Is Ready, a body of work made between 2022 and 2025. His work is forthcoming in New South Vol. II, published by the Atlanta Center for Photography, later this year.

Kinkle will begin graduate study in the MFA Photography program at Parsons School of Design in 2027.