Edmund Lowe splits his time on both his commercial and art photography. His vintage style brings a sense of nostalgia to his subjects. His artistic work is reminiscent of old-time photographs from decades past. Lowe is a graduate of the Brooks Institute of Photography and has been a commercial photographer for the past 27 years living in Seattle, Washington.

Where were you born, where do you live now, any other background info?

I was born in Denver, but moved early to Los Altos, California. I graduated from California State University, Chico with a degree in Business Administration and moved to LA to work at Burroughs Corp as a computer salesman. On a vacation I visited a friend on Lummi Island (up near Bellingham, Washington) and fell in love with the Puget Sound area. I worked as a reefnet salmon fisherman to put myself through Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara and received a BFA in photography. Upon graduation I moved to Seattle to assist for a few years before starting my own commercial photography business in 1982. One of my first jobs was to photograph Bill Gates and the other executives at the newly formed Microsoft Corporation.

How would you describe your work?

I feel like I live a dual life. I make money from my commercial work but I fulfill my creative side with travel and landscape photography. On Imagekind I can experiment with images that I combine with texture layers and selective blurring to produce a more surrealistic view. I like strong colors but also have a real love for black and white imagery. In the digital age anything goes. The subject matter determines the treatment that I give the photograph.

What processes and techniques do you use to create your work?

Photoshop has displaced the small stuffy darkroom and I can’t say I really miss the chemical experience. There WAS something special about seeing an image come up in a magical way in the developer tray, but not facing the possibility of health problems outweighs the thrill. In Photoshop, I use the basic exposure adjustments to achieve a greater dynamic range and I like to fine tune the colors to get what I saw at the moment of capture. Then, if the subject matter seems appropriate, I might add one or more of the texture layers I have created to add a mood that takes it to another level-one that I hope will increase the “interestingness” of the image.

Are you a full time artist?

I am a commercial/advertising photographer first and foremost. I have had discussions with other photographers about whether we are actually artists or maybe just technicians with a certain viewpoint. Photoshop almost seems like cheating after you have spent decades in the darkroom.

How did you get started?

I have been making photographs since I was 12 years old when my father took me to a San Francisco Giants game at Candlestick Park and I captured an image of Willie Mays through my Dad’s binoculars. I couldn’t believe that I had a photograph of my hero that I could show my friends. I found an old Kodak folding camera at a garage sale for fifty cents and started shooting all kinds of subjects. My paper route money paid for the film and processing.

Any notable accomplishments?

I have won a few awards in advertising. A New York Art Directors award, several Northwest Addys and a Halo Award. I have had a few gallery shows of my Paris work. I also had the privilege of working on three book projects with the “Day in the Life” producers: “The African Americans” , “America, Then and Now”, and “A Day in the Life of Canada”.

Where can we find more info and keep up with your work?

My commercial website can be found here: edlowephoto.com and my flickr site for more fun and creative images.
Also, you can view some of my stock photography at Alamy.

What artists inspire you?

I have been collecting daguerreotypes for a number of years and find that even at the advent of photography with all the health risks (mercury vapor processing) and hardships they were producing incredible images. Mathew Brady, Southworth & Hawes and John Plumb to name just a few. More modern photographers (relatively) include Darius Kinsey, Irving Penn, Eugene Atget. Edward Steichen, John K. Hillers, Paul Strand and William Eggleston. As you can see I have an affinity for the classics and as hard as I try I don’t seem to be able to capture their unique styles with modern materials. But I’ll keep trying.

Tomasz Jedruszek is a Polish artist who creates some of the most stunning and beautiful CG works. His designs have been featured in several noteworthy publications. Tomasz was born 1977, educated in math and physics, and has a masters degree in Engineering & Architecture. Since 1999 he has worked as a freelance digital artist.

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Elena Kalis was born in Moscow (Russia) but has, for the past ten years, lived on a small island in the Bahamas with her husband and two children. She has an education in traditional art, but has recently been following her interest in photography.  Over the past year she has been doing some underwater projects with her children and their friends.  Some of Elena’s images have been used for books, magazines and CD covers, and have also appeared in print magazines and online publications.

Where were you born, where do you live now, any other background info?

My name is Elena Kalis. I was born in Moscow (Russia) and have lived for the past ten years on a small island in the Bahamas with my husband and two children. I have an education in art (traditional paintings and drawings) , but have recently been following my interest in photography. I have been doing some underwater projects with my children and friends for the past year.

How would you describe your work?

Alice in WaterLand.  That’s the name of my recent project and it’s describe my work as well.

What processes and techniques do you use to create your work?

Digital photography. I use Canon 5D with housing and 28 or 50mm lens. Post process in Photoshop.I shoot in pool and ocean.

Are you a full time artist?

I am full time mother and remaining time artist.

How did you get started?

I love ocean and I spend a lot of time in the water (with camera and without) so it was natural thing for me to do.

Any notable accomplishments?

I was doing underwater photography for little over a year now.It’s not that long but I have a lot of response from the people. Some of my work have been used for book, magazine and CD covers, and have appeared in print magazines and online publications. Underwater images are liquid, weightless and have dream-like quality. That’s probably why they are so appealing to many people.

Where can we find more info and keep up with your work?

My personal site: elenakalisphoto.com

Other public places: Facebook Flickr Carbonmade

What artists inspire you?

I recently discovered for myself work of photographer Connie Imboden and it’s changed how I look at the reflections now. However my inspiration is not necessarily coming from the work of other artists. It could be anything really, small things around me…

Pascal Tremblay is a graphic designer / illustrator from Montreal. He has been working freelance for the past 11 years doing work for a wide variety of clients.

Pascal’s work has always been an introspective and personal way for him to express himself. He describes his work as a way to “define my emotions and thoughts in a way that when I look at it, I will know exactly how I felt at the moment I created it, but without making it definite for others.” In other words, though he has strong emotion connection with his work, it’s up to the person viewing it to decide what it means to her or him.

Where were you born, where do you live now, any other background info?

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Josh Heilaman is  a self taught visual and sound artist. He was born and raised in Oklahoma, now lives in Texas. Most of his work is in acrylic painting and musical form. He is also very fond of drawing, sculpting and video. Though he generally focuses on character based work, he also dabbles with landscapes and abstract pieces as well. Josh’s work has been featured in numerous publications and shows all over America.

To view more of my Josh Heilman’s art work, check his personal website: www.friskeemedia.com/joshheilaman

To hear some of his music, check out this site.

Where were you born, where do you live, any other background info?

I was born in Oklahoma City, OK. Most of my life has been here in Oklahoma, I moved to Texas for a few years as well. After traveling across the U.S. looking for a good place to live, I have found myself in Oklahoma again. I’ve grown to appreciate many things about my hometown that I overlooked for a while. Now that I am “back home”, I have decided to continue my involvement with the arts and focus on personal and community development.

How would you describe your work?

Over the years, I have watched my work evolve. I started creating at a very early age, mainly pencil drawings of characters and landscapes. By the time I became a teenager, my interests shifted to painting, sculpting and digital mediums. I’ve spent considerable time with most common mediums since then. Somehow, my work has evolved beyond anything I thought it would but still remains as simplistic as the early days of drawing “make-believe” characters. The focal point of my creations has always been based in story telling and character development. I enjoy bringing the believable to the make-believe in all of my work.

What processes and techniques do you use to create your work?

When creating, I typically don’t have any sort of plan in the beginning stages. Most of the time, I begin by making textures and abstract color schemes. These textures will “tell me” what to paint or draw. The process is similar to cloud watching or participating in an ink blot test. Sometimes it takes some time to pull something tangible out of abstraction, but other times it happens very quickly. For those reasons, I typically will work on 10 to 20 pieces at a time. My favorite approach is to squeeze out a big blob of one color and work it into all the pieces in varying degrees. In the end, the result is a very rich and prismatic collection of paintings. The main mentality, that I embrace while creating, is that every color exists in everything all of the time; and I should emulate that in my artwork.

What is your style for creating?

I’ve never paid close attention to style with my work. I find that it’s best to just go with what occurs naturally. Perhaps, that is my style.

Are you a full time artist?

Yes, I am a full time artist. Most of my income stems from commission work, gallery shows and graphic design jobs.