Karen was born in New York City to her parents John and Mary (Autry) Furth on March 16th, 1961. She was the eldest of three and was a loving sister to Susan and Robin.

Karen grew up in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, attended Upper Darby High School and then the University of Pennsylvania, graduating with a degree in US History in 1983.

While at Penn, she discovered her love of art and especially, photography. After graduating, she moved to New York City to attend NYU for graduate school. Her drive, curiosity and openness to her vocation sustained her through the "lean" years, where she formed life-long friendships with other women artists and was a founder of a women's art collective - Gallery 494 in 1991.

In 1989, she was hired by the National Museum of the American Indian to be their
in-house photographer and conservationist. She fell in love with the work, the culture, the history and further developed her well-earned ability to add to the conversation of how historical narratives are presented to the public. She traveled zealously and intrepidly through the indigenous regions of South and Central America and had a brush with the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas, in 1994 - which only fueled her passion for documentary photography even more.

After leaving the NMAl, Karen was hired to run a photography program in a New York City supportive housing cooperative called The Times Square. Her students ran the gamut from formerly homeless, mentally ill and low-income New Yorkers struggling to make a life in New York City. Karen drew out the best in people and this class produced meaningful imagery by an overlooked population. In 1997, knowing the importance of such programs, she wrote and received a grant from the Open Society Institute for the Times Square Photography Project to appear in the subway cars of the New York City transit system. As a result, millions of New Yorkers could enjoy the art from a mostly unseen and unheard source of such meaningful expression - the marginalized that lived amongst us.

This project brought out a few of the essential truths of Karen - she was a natural teacher and her belief in the collective voice of groups can be transformative. The project also established her as a working artist and educator, which she knew was her calling.

While doing adjunct teaching at several New York universities, she picked up work as an artist visiting hospital rooms to invite patients to make art. If anyone was built-to-order for such a task, it was Karen. Her boundless supply of empathy was her superpower. She was so affected by the encounters and the art made, that she created a photography class at The Creative Center: Arts for People in Healthcare for people battling cancer.

Karen was the guide for their artistic journeys providing direction and enthusiasm. She brought them along, encouraged them, cajoled them and created expectations for them - even the participants that were terminally ill. She met everyone where they were - as she always did with everyone. She turned a group of individuals into a collective, full of passion and purpose. Karen knew self-expression was a therapeutic and complemented their medical care. She loved that group, and they loved her right back.

Once again, Karen realized the power of the collective voice with this special group of cancer patients and survivors. As per her usual MO, she wrote a grant and raised money to publish a book of their collective work, resulting in: Still Life: Documenting Cancer Survivorship. Today, the book is a valuable resource for art therapists starting similar programs.

In 2006, she was hired by the International Center of Photography as an educational programs coordinator, and it is there that she finished her professional career in 2017.

As an accomplished artist in her own right, Karen's signature project began in a New York City laundry room in her Washington Heights building in 1993. She met three little girls - and for all four - that first encounter became a lifelong connection. While photographing them for almost thirty years, she became their surrogate, their advocate, their cheerleader, their witness, their guide and always, their trusted friend. She loved them for all the joy they brought into her life and they loved her for her undying belief in their potential.

Karen found love and her own family late in life - as did her unsuspecting husband. What started as a friendship pivoted on a late spring afternoon in 1998. The story retold on various anniversaries since - "Have I ever told you about the moment mom and I fell in love?" (Of course I had) "It was on West 86th Street. Mom was late, which was not unusual" (side-eye-smile from Karen). "Then she came out from the subway steps and onto the sidewalk, backlit, flashing that signature smile - our eyes met - and we both knew. We were in love".

From that moment onward, we never looked back, or sideways. Only forward, together.

The last piece of Karen's life fell into place on what she always described as the happiest day of her life - September 23rd, 2008 - when Alex was born. Part pusher, part pushover, but always present and ever disciplined in her priorities - Alex came first (and second and third). While our marriage brought a shared happiness, Alex brought the unmitigated and unfiltered joy - and completeness. She danced with him, sang with him, she read to him, advocated for him and she marveled at his unique (and often scary) physical abilities. The true tragedy of her life is that she will not get to see the man of whom she put so much into building his foundation.

Karen's life can be defined by her caring and empathy - for friends and strangers alike. There are countless stories of her kindness, her ability to listen and to be there for others. She lived her core beliefs, spoke her mind and acted on those beliefs.

Karen left an abundance of love in her generous wake. In a life cut short, she touched countless lives and is greatly missed. Her loving memory sustains those she left behind.

Karen died on May 4th, 2024, She was 63 years old, leaving behind her husband of 22 years, James Nubile, and her beloved son, Alex, 15.