Robert Buelteman

Aug 15

Statement

Images of delicately carved plant life combined with 80,000 volts of electricity and a light source the diameter of a human hair surprise viewers and transform everyday matter into artworks that celebrate nature’s mysteries.

About THE ARTIST

“I began my career in photography in 1975, shooting portraits by the hundreds for studios on the San Francisco Peninsula in 1975. It forever cured me of any lingering desire I had to photograph people. Shortly thereafter, I went to work for The Image Bank West in San Francisco’s famous Ice House, a franchise of the largest stock photography company in the world at the time, representing the brightest stars in the photographic universe and providing commercial prints to architects and interior designers.

Eventually I started my own business commissioning the production of large-scale photographic murals on a wide variety of materials including traditional photographic media, ceramic tile, vinyl, and fabric. Below is my 8 x 40 foot reproduction from the original negative of the construction of the San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge on cotton fabric, stretch-framed and installed at the world headquarters of the Bechtel Corporation in 1979.

After partnering with competitors in the photo-mural business, I learned that my place was behind the camera, and so, in 1983, I accepted an invitation to move into the studio of celebrated photographer Fred Lyon in San Francisco’s South-of-Market neighborhood. Under his mentorship, I grew over the next 15 years as I shot annual reports, table-top and product photography. But it also became clear that my passion was found in working in the field for environmental organizations and pursuing my black-and-white landscape studies. I left the studio in 1998, having decided to commit myself to the exploration of photography as an art form. I built the last darkroom of my life adjacent to my home in Montara, and never looked back.”

Artist Website: Robert Buelteman