My earliest memory of the draw of fine art came in 1965 at the New York World’s Fair. My dad took me to the Vatican Pavilion where I was introduced, up close, to Michelangelo’s “Pieta.” I immediately experienced an overwhelming sense of AWE that became a life-long companion. In time, that awe merged with a love of photography. I learned to find awe and beauty in everything around me, from the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains to the hidden waterfalls minutes from my home. I become lost in the emotions that touch me as that beauty surrounds me. Creatively, I can focus on the reality of natural beauty, or I may find my perception of that emotional beauty. The art of my photography transcends the simplicity of the release of the shutter to a perfectly composed and exposed natural image. I use the science of photography with the art of the digital darkroom to produce the joy that I feel.
My current direction is loosely based on the Leo Marx’s thoughts on the contrast between technology and America’s pastoral ideas of the eighteenth century.
Mark A Phillips