Commercial and Vintage Style Photographer Edmund Lowe
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.
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