Living Through My Lens

Dan Katz

(Pinnacle Second Beach, Olympic National Park)

I’ve had a camera in my hands since I was ten, and that was a long time ago. I’ve used it for fun. I’ve used it professionally, working my way through college as a wedding photographer, and later as part of my advertising career. However, over the past decade, I’ve used it mainly to capture the things that I love and express visually the things I want to say.

I’ve had no formal art education. However, my mother was (and still is) an artist, so I grew up surrounded by art. And in my professional life as an advertising creative director, I’ve lived in a world in which visual expression can sell cars or elect presidents.

I don’t have any one favorite subject to photograph. I’m inspired by nature, but also by architecture, by the amazing colors of humanity and by the eternity of death. I love the idea of “found art,” abstractions in whitewashed store windows or in the remains of posters on telephone poles. Photography is all about constant discovery as I see the world through my lens.

Recently, I’ve begun experimenting with studio photography and the female form, both clothed and nude. Being in the studio has allowed me total control over the elements of light, shape, gesture, texture and tonality, as I venture into new conceptual avenues. I find it exhilarating and creatively elevating to find fresh ways to express such visual themes as soulfulness, strength, mystery, power and, of course, beauty.

My inspirations are the Great Photographers: Ansel Adams, Edward Westin, Wynn Bullock, André Kertész, Minor White, Aaron Siskind, and more recent icons such as Abelardo Morell, Albert Watson and Michael Kenna.

In the spirit of celebrating the visual, letting the eyes speak for the heart, I am excited to share my images with you.

www.DanKatzPhotography.com

OPENING NIGHT & RECEPTION: April 12, 2019 from 6pm - 9pm

Exhibition: 4/12/19 - 5/5/19

Walt Girdner Photo Studio & Gallery