Amateur Photographer (2019-05-31)

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Legends

of photography

P

erhapsmore

thananyother

photographer

ArtWolfeis aptly

named.Hisparentswere

commercialartistsandthe

Seattle-bornphotographer

hascombinedthepractices

ofphotojournalismand

arttoproduceimagesthat

havehelpedtoturnnature

photographyintoanartform.

Wolfeciteshiskeyinfluences

asErnstHaasandEliotPorter.

This is unsurprising as the

Art

Wol fe

Austria-bornHaaswaswell

knownforbridgingthegap

betweenphotojournalismand

creativityinhiswork,while

Porterwasbestknownforhis

intimatecolourimagesof

nature.Photojournalism,

colourandcreativityare,

arguably,thethreekey

elementsofWolfe’swork.

Wolfestudiedatthe

UniversityofWashington

andgraduatedin 1975 with

bachelor’sdegreesinfinearts

and art education. His love for

arguedthatMigrationswas

anartbook.Hestated,‘I

embracedthetechnologythat

wasavailabletomeandI took

theartofthecameratoits

limits.’SincethenWolfehas

clearlystatedwhenanyimage

inanyofhisbookshasbeen

digitallyaltered.

Theimageshownhereof

Steller’sseaeaglesonthe

islandofHokkaidoinJapan,

wasshotinearly2013.It

fulfilledWolfe’slong-held

ambitiontophotographa bird

hedescribesas‘magnificent’,

andis a primeexampleof

howhehaselevatedwildlife

photographyintotherealms

ofanartform.

Wolfestillhashiscritics

amongphotographicpurists,

butthesheerexcellenceofhis

visualoutputspanningmore

than 40 yearsis notindoubt.

Hecombinesthegenresof

nature,landscapeandportrait

photographyinsucha prolific

fashionthatyoualmost

wonderif Wolfehas

cloned himself.

SteveFaircloughexplainshowthe

prolificArtWolfehaselevatednature

photography into an art form

photographywassparked

byshootingthesnowypeaks

oftheCascadeandOlympic

mountainrangesinthePacific

NorthwestregionoftheUSA

wherehegrewup.Justthree

yearsaftergraduatinghe

publishedhisfirstbookIndian

BasketsoftheNorthwestCoast

andsincethenhehasreleased

morethan 80 titles,withover

500,000copiessoldworldwide.

Onecouldstronglyargue

thatWolfe’sapproachto

photographyasarthasbeen

pioneeringinthefieldofnature

photography.His 1994 book

MigrationssawWolfe

deployinga processcalled

‘cloning’,whichcaused

consternationinsomequarters

asthebook’scoverimageof

zebraswasheavilydigitally

editedtogiveit a more

uniformpattern.

MuchinthewaythatSteve

McCurryhasbattedaway

criticismsofhisdigital

manipulationofimagesby

describinghisbodyofworkas

‘visual storytelling’, Art Wolfe

© Gett y ImaGes

Steller’sseaeagles,
© Art WolfeHokkaido, Japan