Artist Statement

I was born and raised in the San Francisco bay area in 1954, and now make my home in San Francisco. I found my voice and vision through photography at an early age, and quickly gravitated toward the natural landscape for subject matter. Backpacking trips through the Sierra's, field trips to the coast, and adventuring to the California deserts, have all given me a deep appreciation for the incredible variety of nature within the land around me.

My cameras of choice have included Polaroid SX-70, 35mm, 6x7 and 4x5. The bulk of my work has been done using 35mm film and Nikon and Canon cameras and lenses. There came a period in my life where I became so dissatisfied with the many limititations of film - especially transparancy film. I found the various color balances of the different film types and their limited dynamic range, combined with the extremely limited capabilities of the available printing processes, rarely gave me the results I expected when looking through the viewfinder. Whether it was too blue shadows, or blown out highlights or blocked up shadows, I was more and more dissatisfied with my results. I nearly stopped photographing for a while.

The advent of the digital age has changed all of that. Since making the switch in 2003, shooting and printing digitally has reinvigorated my love of photography and the process of producing prints. I can now more closely reproduce the colors and range of light of what I see. It is once again, simply a joy.

Over the years, I have attempted to hone my vision to better reflect the essence of the landscape as I see it. My approach has become quite contemplative and, to that end, I find the images I make these days to be more intimate and simple in design. I believe the true genius of nature lies in it's most subtle moments. I have come to view my finished images as little meditations on a place. Rather than shooting only the "Grand Landscape", I am seeing more truth in the simple curve of a sand dune, or the arrangement of aspen leaves on sandstone. While I will never turn my back on a glorious landscape, I believe my best work now is in attempting to reveal the beauty of those simple moments in time.

- David Gardner