About | portfolio

About Kim SignoretPaar

Kim creates images of people and places that hold both the immediacy of a fleeting moment and the quiet pull of something deeper. Her photographs invite viewers to pause—to look beyond the surface, to imagine what lies just out of frame, and to feel the texture of the scene.

Winning her first competition at age thirteen, Kim dreamed of being a National Geographic photographer. Since 2009, she has immersed herself in photography, earning multiple awards and exhibiting widely. In 2014 and 2023, she won Best of Show at the International Exhibition of Photography at the San Diego County Fair. Then in 2024 and again this year her photos were selected for the APA-NY juried exhibitions at the Soho Photo Gallery in New York City and the APA-SD "Untitled" exhibitions. She teaches iPhone photography and served as president of the Poly Photo Club at Balboa Park. Kim earned a degree in journalism from the University of Iowa and built a career in California and Mexico in public relations, publishing, and fundraising.

Through photography, travel, and teaching, Kim continues to explore and share human stories that connect us across cultures and generations.

SHOWINGS | AWARDS

• "Untitled 2025," Photographer's Eye in Escondido hosting APA-SD Annual Juried Exhibition, February 2026

• "People & Places of North Vietnam," solo show at UC San Diego Faculty Club, January 20 – March 31, 2026

• American Photographic Artists - New York Chapter (APA-NY) 4th Annual Juried Competition & Exhibition

at Soho Photo Gallery, New York City, January 27 - February 1, 2026

• American Photographic Artists - San Diego Chapter (APA-SD) "Untitled 2025" Annual Juried Exhibition

at WOO Studios, January 10, 2026

• 20th Annual Black & White Spider Awards, December 2025

Honorable Mention in People; Nominee in Architecture, Wildlife

• APA-SD "Untitled 2024" Annual Juried Exhibition at Bread & Salt, December 14, 2024

• APA-NY 3rd Annual Juried Competition & Exhibition at Soho Photo Gallery, New York City, Dec 3 – 8, 2024

• 2024 Photo Contest, Sierra Club Photo Section, San Diego, December 2024

1st place in Human Made; Honorable Mention in Wildlife

• 19th Annual Black & White Spider Awards, November 2024

Two Honorable Mentions in the Children of the World; Nominee in Fine Art, People, Photojournalism, Portrait

• "People & Places," solo show at UCSD Faculty Club, August 15 – October 11, 2024

• UCSD Emeriti/Retirement Association Art Show, Belmont Village Senior Living, La Jolla, June – Dec 2024

• 2024 International Exhibition of Photography, San Diego County Fair, June 12 – July 7, 2024

1st place in Documentary; 1st place in B&W-Architecture; 2nd place in B&W Scenic

• 17th Annual International Color Awards, Nominee, Architecture, April 2024

• 2023 International Exhibition of Photography, San Diego County Fair, June 7 – July 4, 2023

Best of Show and 1st place in Large Prints; 1st place in B&W-People Formal/Informal; 2nd place in B&W

Nature; 3rd place in Documentary; Honorable Mention in Documentary and Color People Informal

• 2023 SnowCreek Collaborative Show at The Photographer's Eye, Escondido, June 10 -- July 1, 2023

• 2023 Anza-Borrego Desert Photo Contest & Show, February 5 – 26, 2023

Honorable mention, People Enjoying the Park

• 2022 Coronado Library Art Show for UCSD Visual Arts Group 20th Anniversary, Sept 1 – Nov 28, 2022

• 2022 Best of DPX at 20/20 Gallery, Oceanside, CA, two shows: June – Aug and Aug – Dec, 2022

• 2022 International Exhibition of Photography, San Diego County Fair, June 8 – July 4, 2022

1st place in Color Scenic Landscape-Spring; 3rd place in B&W-People Formal/Informal; 4th place in B&W

Architecture/Cityscape; Honorable Mention in Abstract

• 2022 Virtual Art Show, UCSD Visual Arts Group, May 1 – June 30, 2022

• 2022 Poly Photo Club Exhibition at Nelson Photo, February 1 – 28, 2022

• 2021 Virtual Art Show, UCSD Visual Arts Group, May 1 – June 30, 2021

• 2021 Anza-Borrego Desert Photo Contest & Show, February 1 – 28, 2021

Honorable mention, Cellphone

• 2020 Women in Creative Photography Exhibition: Shades of Black & White, Front Porch Gallery, Carlsbad

March 1 – June 12, 2020

• 2019 Summer Price Center Art Show, UCSD Visual Arts Group, July 1 – August 29, 2019

• 2019 International Exhibition of Photography, San Diego County Fair, May 31 – July 4, 2019

3rd place in Color-People, Informal-Candid; two Honorable Mention awards in Cellphone

• 2018 International Exhibition of Photography, San Diego County Fair, June 1 – July 4, 2018

3rd place in Plants & Trees; Honorable Mention in Night

• 2018 Portraits, Center for Fine Art Photography, Ft. Collins, CO, December 22, 2017 – January 26, 2018

• 2017 Summer Price Center Art Show, UCSD Visual Arts Group, June 5 – August 17, 2017

• 2017 International Exhibition of Photography, San Diego County Fair, June 2 – July 4, 2017

4th place in B&W-People; Honorable Mention in Color-Winter; Honorable Mention in Flowers

• 2016 Winter Art Showcase, UCSD Extension, San Diego, December 10, 2016

• 2015 International Photography Awards, Honorable Mention, New York City, October 27, 2015
• 2015 Summer Price Center Art Show, UCSD Visual Arts Group, June 15 – August 21, 2014
• 2015 Artists Exhibition, UCSD Retirement Resource Center, January 26 – August 30, 2015
• Best of Nature Photography Show, Ordover Gallery at the San Diego Natural History Museum,
October 25, 2014 – February 1, 2015
• 2014 International Exhibition of Photography, San Diego County Fair, June 7 – July 4, 2014
Best of Show and 1st place in B&W Architecture/Cityscape; 2nd place in Color-Spring; 4th place in Cellphone
• 2014 Summer Price Center Art Show, UCSD Visual Arts Group, June 9 – August 25, 2014
• 2014 Spring Art and Music Exhibit, UCSD Retirement Resource Center, May 27 – August 30, 2014
• 2013 International Exhibition of Photography, San Diego County Fair, June 8 – July 4, 2013
• 2012 International Exhibition of Photography, San Diego County Fair, June 8 – July 4, 2012
Donor Award in Waterscapes; Honorable Mention in Color-People

ACTIVITIES

• Teaching, iPhone Photography and Photography, UCSD Retirement Center, 2014 to present

• Workshop Instructor, "Cellphone Photography in the Forest," Art Camp 4 Grown-ups

at Camp de Benneville Pines, San Bernardino National Forest, Sept 2025, 2024 and 2023

• Teaching, Travel Photo Management, Poly Photo Club, Photographic Arts Bldg, Balboa Park, July 18, 2025

• Judge, Year-End Competition for the Camera Club of Laguna Woods Village, November 2024

• Presenter, iPhone Photography, Sierra Club San Diego Photo Section, October 19, 2024

• Teaching, iPhone Photography, Poly Photo Club, Photographic Arts Bldg, Balboa Park, July 20, 2024

• Judge, Digital Critique for the Camera Club of Laguna Woods Village, March 25, 2024

• Teaching, iPhone Photography, Fallbrook Camera Club, March 18, 2024

• Teaching, iPhoneography, Camera Club of Laguna Woods Village, December 15, 2023

• Teaching, Cellphone Editing and Workflow, Women in Creative Photography, November 2, 2023

• Judge, Digital Critique for the Camera Club of Laguna Woods Village, October 23, 2023

• Judge, Darkroomers Photographic Club, August 16, 2023

• Teaching, iPhoneography, Camera Club of Laguna Woods Village, June 12, 2023

• Presenter, Birds in Panama, Photo Naturalists Camera Club of San Diego, May 22, 2023

• President, Poly Photo Club at Balboa Park, November 2021 to November 2023

• Teaching, iPhoneography, Rancho Santa Fe Senior Center, August 2, 2022

• Teaching, iPhoneography, La Jolla Community Center, June 8, 2022

• Teaching, Mobile Travel Photography, Women in Creative Photography, June 2, 2022

• Guest speaker, “How can I take better photos with my cellphone?" UCSD Sounding Board, Nov 4, 2021

• Guest speaker, “How are Cellphones Shaping the Future of Photography?”

San Diego Independent Scholars, April 18, 2020

• Teaching, iPhoneography, Del Mar Community Connections, May 29, 2019

• Teaching, iPhoneography, OASIS San Diego, 2018-2020

• Judge, 2016 International Exhibition of Photography, San Diego County Fair, June 3 – July 4, 2016
• Judge, 2015 Year-End Competition, Darkroomers Photographic Club, Balboa Park, January 9, 2016
• Judge, 2015 International Exhibition of Photography, San Diego County Fair, June 6 – July 4, 2015

EDUCATION

• Certificate, Photography: Images and Techniques, UC San Diego Extended Studies, January 2011

• B.S., Journalism, University of Iowa