Visions of Four
February 23–April 2, 2021
Richard Blakeslee, Kevin Felts, Jon Lesch, and Reagan Ramsey
Each of these photographers creates images for the love of photography rather than commercial gain. For them, a passion for photography is a constant source of creative opportunity.
An early morning bicycle ride carries the same anticipation for capturing a great image as does a trip to distant lands.
Each artist immerses themselves in capturing and documenting moments in time. Viewing the collection will be a walk around the globe as well as local highlights.
Richard Blakeslee
When I was a kid I knew I wanted to be a still photographer. Then, while I was at Portland State, I saw a brochure for the U.S. Air Force that promised enlistees could study for a year at a still photography school. I joined in 1961, and they ended up sending me to motion picture camera school instead. So I was a cameraman, not a photographer, who soon became a film/video maker.
In the early seventies, I worked on educational films and then got a contract to do several series of filmstrips, covering subjects from poetry and weather to the Indians of the Pacific Northwest. These led to a couple of years of work and thousands of stills. I continued to shoot stills for the next forty years, with cameras ranging from large format to pinhole, while I made my living as a freelance cameraman and film/video producer in Portland, Los Angeles, and for the last twenty years in Washington, DC. Then I returned to Portland, were I continue to take stills.
When shooting photos, I try my best to see the ironic and iconic. I strive to find the out-of-place and to put it in a frame and perspective that will make someone stop, see what surrounds us all a little bit differently, and perhaps smile.
Kevin Felts
I got my first 35mm camera when I was eleven years old. In one form or format or the other, I’ve not put one down since. I’m 67 years old.
Although I studied photography throughout college, my career path led elsewhere. My camera morphed from still images to moving ones. Whether I was working in television news, commercials, or corporate production, the mission was always the same; get the pictures that tell the story best.
Now my story telling has come full circle, back to where it all began. While the technology has changed, my mission hasn’t. I love to tell stories.
Jon Lesch
As an avocational fine art photographer, I am mostly self taught. My photo history began during college with a Canon FTB, 2 commercial photo classes and a darkroom in my bathroom. Through raising children and traveling, my photo interests grew and flourished with no formal study or concentration. As kids left home, so did my photo interests.
As the digital generation appeared on the photo scene, and retirement was just around the corner, I dove in with both feet, learned Photoshop, took classes, tutorials, and any other resource for learning this now-complicated hobby. Joining various photo social networks and attending workshops gave me a window through which I could expand my knowledge of photography and learn what and where people were shooting.
Now, 10 years, 5 cameras, and many dollars later, I am trying to remember what I learned 10 years ago while attempting to keep up with the newest software and the rapid improvements in this busy industry. The introduction of the IPhone has introduced a huge interest in photography and the refinements made in that sector have provided opportunities for anybody to produce moderate-quality images. I spent my first 40 years shooting with various Canon cameras, ending with the Canon 5D Mark IV prior to switching to mirrorless with the Sony a7rIV. I’ve always purchased top of the line glass, usually with a wide angle, a mid-range tele lens, and a telephoto lens usually from 100-400mm. Most of my work is done from a tripod using a polarizer filter and various neutral density filters.
My photo activities have centered around “landscape”, with a recent interest in black and white processing.
I process using a Mac computer and Photoshop CC, with various other third party software. One of the things I enjoy most is seeking and capturing outdoor scenes of the Pacific Northwest, converting those images to digital and sharing withthose who appreciate the great outdoors and my effort in documenting that beauty.
Reagan Ramsey
My interest in photography started when worked in Asia a few decades ago. I wanted to capture the spirit and uniqueness of each new culture. This feeling of discovery was fresh then and it still is now. I have never lost the sense of excitement that comes from seeing an image through the viewfinder and hoping that I can document the moment so that it tells a story.
I’ve been lucky to have worked as a filmmaker, still photographer, television producer, television news director and international media executive. Each job was challenging and rewarding but very, very different. The one thing that stayed with me constantly was photography.
Spending time amongst cultures radically different than my own is central to what I document. I always have carried a camera and always have found time to look for that image that can stand the test of time. The photographs you see in this exhibit are a few of my favorites.