Stephen Kamelgarn

 When I was in college, I became very interested in theatrical light design. From my experience in the theater I became aware of how light alone could profoundly affect one’s emotions. This revelation stayed with me when, a few years later, I took up photography. I started my experiments using Black & White film, just as I discovered the photographs of Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Edward Steichen and others. Those images had such a profound, soul-shattering impact on me. I found that it was the quality of the light that they captured that made such a deep impression

I initially got interested in digital enhancement of photographs when I saw that a viable alternative to using toxic darkroom chemicals existed. My original impetus was to use the computer as a "digital darkroom," attempting to make photographs that were virtually indistinguishable from "real" photographic prints. However, as I explored the capabilities of PhotoShop and other image manipulation software, I began to realize that this was not a pale imitation of the darkroom, but something completely different. The computer grants one a much larger palette to work with, and a much broader way to give photographs an emotional impact. My art is an attempt to make the viewer aware that she is still looking at a photograph, but with subtle differences that allow a different emotional response that one would get from looking at a snapshot or postcard.Although I shoot primarily Black & White I have found that, just like theatrical lighting, judiciously applied color has its own voice, and makes a distinct and complementary statement to the Black & White foundation. In the 10+ years that I’ve been exploring the capabilities of digital enhancement, I’ve come to realize that this represents a whole new artistic medium. 

MORE PHOTO INFO

All prints are made with archival pigments on digital archival photo paper. They are sold matted, mounted, signed and numbered. THEY ARE NOT FRAMED

However copy #1 of some of the images (dated prior to 2000) are available in a simple, black wooden frame and mounted behind UV protective glass. If you are interested in a framed image, or wish more information on any image, please contact me: