ABOUT THE ARTIST:

Few people know what they want to do all of their life when they are twelve years old. Kevin, was the exception. He had two dreams, being a firefighter and a photographer. He knew from the day he picked up a camera that this is what he wanted to do. It felt natural. Then when he saw his first print developed in the darkroom he was hooked. He has never looked back. Photography for many is a true passion and art form. While many can snap a photo of something, very few can make a photograph. A quote you will hear Kevin say often when he teaches “are we taking pictures or making a photograph”. Kevin will tell you as he learned his craft growing up with such great teachers like Ansel Adams, Barbara Blondeau, Ron Evans, Ray Metzger, Harry Callahan, Aaron Siskind and many others that it was making the photograph that mattered. It was seeing the subject -- whether a portrait, a landscape or a fleeting moment in time on the street and knowing what you experienced was something to share. It was seeing the final photograph in its rawest form.

 Kevin attended Philadelphia College of Art as a Photo-Film student and opened his first studio in 1976. He was quickly thrown into the commercial world. It seemed opportunity always presented itself and Kevin’s studio became very successful with Fortune 500 customers and wonderful assignments. In 1985 the Macintosh computer was introduced and Kevin was one of the first studios to computerize his operation in the U.S. This eventually lead to a new company he formed writing software for photographers (studio Information Systems). He continued to have many successes. In 1990, he decided to sell his studio and software company. He ventured into the color lab business and in the mid-nineties he was an enthusiastic devotee in the coming evolution of digital photography. Working with Burrell Colour in Crown Point, Indiana, Kevin spearheaded digital integration into color labs.  This involved some patents he co-wrote and some revolutionary concepts in digital processes still being used today.

Kevin hasn’t shot film since 1996. Being an early supporter of digital photography, he went where few photographers wanted to venture at the time. Starting out with cameras that were less than 6 megapixels he now uses the world’s highest resolution camera -- the Phase One P55+ 60 megapixel camera system. In 1999 Kevin took a position with Phase One, a Danish company known for making the highest resolution digital cameras available today. He is Vice President for North America Marketing. He works with photographers around the world as well as leading PODAS (Phase One Digital Artist Series) workshops featuring programs available for the professional photographer and serious hobbyists in some of the most scenic areas in this country and in Australia, Iceland and many other locations.

Kevin is an adventurer with a travel schedule that would exhaust many. He has visited Antarctica three times and most recently Iceland and places in between.

ARTIST STATEMENT:

I see the world through the lens and a frame. Photography for me is an extension of who I am. I have gone through many stages in my career. At one time I was a portrait photographer with many prestigious clients. Over time I grew restless for something else in the field. I truly enjoy my current work as a fine art landscape photographer. There is something special about examining and photographing everything from grand scenes in nature that are there for a moment and then gone to industrial landscapes and focusing on the incredibly minute details of peeling paint and rust. I am most fortunate to be able to travel to many wonderful places.

I have fond memories of nights and weekends spent in the darkroom creating prints with the stereo blasting. It could be fun and it could be tedious. You didn’t always know what you were going to get and, at times, it required extensive hands-on darkroom manipulation. I can still smell the chemicals. I was taught by masters of the darkroom.

Today, that has all changed thanks to the advent of computers, digital cameras and Photoshop. The darkroom is the computer. Some things are still unpredictable, but the tools to achieve the final result allow you to see them immediately on the screen in real time and right in front of you. Digital allows you to capture a range of tonalities and exposures that were impossible with film. Variables such as emulsion, temperature, chemistry and exposure are taken out of the equation. What you see on your computer monitor is what you will get when printed.  One thing that hasn’t changed is the music. It goes along with creating and working on images. Thank god for iTunes.

I embraced digital early on. It continues to evolve and provide flexibility to all who embrace it. The digital age is still young and has completely transformed our industry. Never before has a switch from analog to digital been so prevalent as in photography. I’m looking forward to seeing where the next ten years takes us.

From 1972 -2002 I was also an active firefighter which was a means to cure my adrenaline issues and shaped my views on life.

There doesn’t seem to be anything that can dampen my passion and enthusiasm for photography. It has opened doors to the world for me and I am most grateful I can share my experiences with others.