Influence - Bruce Barnbaum

Bruce Barnbaum is what I would call an old school photographer. He only uses a large format camera (never digital) and 8x10 film (almost exclusively black and white). He is a master printer in the same vein as Ansel Adams and Edward Weston. He started photographing as a hobby and then made it his life’s work, he is also an environmentalist.

He and his wife live in Washington and travel all over the world photographing. A lot of the time they hike and camp out some where he thinks would be a good photographic area. In my very first black and white photography class, I saw one of his “Tone Poem” books and fell in love with his work. I also realized that that was the type of images that garnered the greatest emotional response from me. I would gladly hang as many of his photographs on my walls as would fit and never get tried of looking at them.

His work inspires me to look beyond just seeing the whole of something, to look closer at the details. The lines, shapes and contrasts within the scene. My favorite past time is hiking; when I am out I always take me camera. I love nature, being out in it and photographing it. As I’m out I often think about Bruce’s work and try to pre-visualize a scene as to in some small way emulate his work, but with my own interpretation or spin. Bruce’s work concentrates on lines, contrasting elements and how the light enhances the scene. When I’m photographing I attempt to see this way, but of course never get any where close to Bruce’s expertise. If I could photograph just a third as well as Bruce I would be ecstatic.