Profile

Wenda Pyman Photography

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

As a landscape, travel and nature photographer based in San Francisco, my vast body of work reflects my all-consuming passion to capture nature’s diverse patterns and imagery, both locally and worldwide. From the contemplative to the dramatic, I try to express a style with a unique perception of my surroundings. My travels, both in California and abroad, provide endless subject matter. My heroes are Eliot Porter, David Muench, Larry Ulrich and Art Wolfe, whose images I studied closely; and through their eyes, I learned the “art of seeing”.

I had been using traditional slide film to capture my vision. I am slowly transitioning to digital output (printing) in order to control a wider range of light and shadow detail. I feel this is an extension of the creative process. My intent is to convey the beauty around me using my creative vision while leveraging the best available technology. I don’t consider digital work any different than manipulating a film image in the darkroom. Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Imogen Cunningham, Galen Rowell, and good photographers used dodging, burning and other darkroom techniques trying to bring out the subliminal details they had envisioned when first composing their image. Paul Capronigro uses digital manipulation to bring his fine art photography to new heights. My intent with digital technology is to rein in the temptation to exaggerate what is seen in the real world. I want the viewer to think, “Gee, I see this everyday but never really take notice of the beauty and intrigue around me”.

I always say that any of my images that “knock your socks off” is directly proportional to the amount of effort I endured in getting that special shot. Getting up at the crack of dawn, standing in freezing water, fighting off hungry mosquitoes, climbing hills and mountains with 30 pounds of camera equipment, worrying about mountain lions, all pays off when I am successful in capturing the perfect light that can transform a scene. Consequently, there usually is an interesting story behind each successful image.

More recently, I purchased a Canon 20D and am excited about digital capture and am learning to use modern technology to exceed the limitations I had with film. Concurrently I am digitizing my 15,000+ stock images and am building a stock photo database and library to better serve my clients. All are available for purchase. My images have appeared nationwide on cards, calendars, music CD album covers and magazines. I can also found at select East Bay Group Shows as well as retail venues such as Handworks of Danville, and Moraga Art Gallery in Moraga. Samples of my artistic style can be found at my website: www.wendapyman.com/galleries.