Growing up in the American Midwest, I acquired early the values of hard work, integrity, and continual learning. By age 18 I took those values on the road to explore life, people, and the world we so precariously inhabit --- all of which informs my deep, caring, and personal philosophy and vision. The subject matter of my images varies widely. Whether abstract views of mundane objects, reflective views of our shared human experience, or views both up close and distant of this amazing world in which we find ourselves, I make efforts at every stage to find and express the extra in the ordinary. Not surprisingly, I also embrace serendipity, that marvelous friend of photographers since the 1830s.
In today’s frenetic world I prefer to slow things down when making my highly personal fine art prints, thoughtfully controlling every process at my disposal. Before clicking the shutter, I ensure the best possible use of light, color, form, and composition to realize my vision. Later, in the digital darkroom, I take the image to new levels, using various techniques with great care and deliberation to add emotional depths that further resonate with my vision. Finally, I conscientiously produce every individual fine art print using 100% archival museum-quality papers, mountings, and pigmented inks, hand-cutting every mat to fit the image. I unequivocally guarantee my hand-signed prints to be fade-free for the lifetime of the purchaser.
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Along our roads are an endless succession of encounters.
Some are of surpassing beauty;
others are of a harsher reality;
many are altogether ordinary.
Sometimes, fortune smiles and I capture one or a few to share with you.
Thank you for journeying, if only for a moment, on this road with me.
Oh, by the way, I am also a certified professional photographer, from the New York Institute of Photography. My passion is fine art, yet I remain fully capable of producing first-rate portraits, commercial, and editorial imagery.
Finally, here is a poem that resonates deeply with me, speaking to the utter amazement we can find in the utterly mundane:
Never should I forget this event
in the life
of my fatigued retinas.
Never should I forget that
in the middle of the road
there was a stone
there was a stone
in the middle of the road
in the middle of the road
there was a stone.
—Carlos Drummond de Andrade
(translated from the Portugese by Elizabeth Bishop)
[Yes that's a picture of me, finishing a 24x30 gallery-framed fine-art print of "Starburst" for delivery to the University of Pennsylvania Hospital. See the image here: http://skaben.zenfolio.com/p450914159/e1b9d432a]
In today’s frenetic world I prefer to slow things down when making my highly personal fine art prints, thoughtfully controlling every process at my disposal. Before clicking the shutter, I ensure the best possible use of light, color, form, and composition to realize my vision. Later, in the digital darkroom, I take the image to new levels, using various techniques with great care and deliberation to add emotional depths that further resonate with my vision. Finally, I conscientiously produce every individual fine art print using 100% archival museum-quality papers, mountings, and pigmented inks, hand-cutting every mat to fit the image. I unequivocally guarantee my hand-signed prints to be fade-free for the lifetime of the purchaser.
_____________________________________________
Along our roads are an endless succession of encounters.
Some are of surpassing beauty;
others are of a harsher reality;
many are altogether ordinary.
Sometimes, fortune smiles and I capture one or a few to share with you.
Thank you for journeying, if only for a moment, on this road with me.
Oh, by the way, I am also a certified professional photographer, from the New York Institute of Photography. My passion is fine art, yet I remain fully capable of producing first-rate portraits, commercial, and editorial imagery.
Finally, here is a poem that resonates deeply with me, speaking to the utter amazement we can find in the utterly mundane:
Never should I forget this event
in the life
of my fatigued retinas.
Never should I forget that
in the middle of the road
there was a stone
there was a stone
in the middle of the road
in the middle of the road
there was a stone.
—Carlos Drummond de Andrade
(translated from the Portugese by Elizabeth Bishop)
[Yes that's a picture of me, finishing a 24x30 gallery-framed fine-art print of "Starburst" for delivery to the University of Pennsylvania Hospital. See the image here: http://skaben.zenfolio.com/p450914159/e1b9d432a]
© Stefan Kaben Images