Photographer of the Month – Phil Bard
In
the mid 1990ís Phil began to focus on his personal portfolio
of black and white landscapes, which he had been building for a number
of years. This work has now supplanted commercial assignments as his
primary photographic output. It is currently handled by several galleries
nationwide and is in numerous private and corporate collections. "I
was yearning to escape the studio and return to the outdoors, remembering
the many years I spent climbing in Yosemite. Studio work was lucrative
but it lacked the kind of meaning I was seeking in my life. Leaving it
for the world of fine art was risky, but I held my nose and jumped in.
It turned out to be the right thing to do."
"Back in 2000, I became aware of Jon's Piezography system. I went over to a friend's portrait studio to help him set up his Epson 1160 to print quads, and when I saw the first print I knew this was serious business. I ordered my own printer and inks the next day and began acquiring drum scans of all my 4x5 negatives. My conversion to digital from the darkroom was swift; today I run four wide format Epson printers, two desktop models and a high-end drum scanner. In 2002, I began supplying scanning and printing to other photographers under the name of Cirrus Digital Imaging, which is located just outside of Portland, Oregon. Running a business of this type and teaching has put a bit more structure back into my life, but I find it helps spark creativity in my personal work. And the prints are just gorgeous."
Phil is a former member of the faculty of Art Center College of Design, where he received his education in photography and design. He is on faculty at the Pacific Northwest College of Art, where he teaches Advanced Digital Imaging and helps maintain a fleet of wide format printers, a number of which run the PiezoTone inks and StudioPrint software, making it one of the best college-level digital labs in the country.
The above image "Sandstone" is courtesy of Phil Bard. Copyright©2005 Phil Bard. All Rights Reserved.
Contact Info:
Phil Bard
2340 South Shore Blvd.
Lake Oswego, OR 97034
(503) 636-4950
http://www.philbard.com
http://www.cirrus-digital.com
January - 2005