Arne Hansen

Arne Hansen

Arne Hansen, Bio

I was twenty four when I decided to follow Horace Greeley’s sage advice. On a day near the end of June I picked up stakes and with a U-Haul trailer strapped to the back of my car headed west for the wilds of Arizona. After a week of essentially sleepless travel somewhat reminiscent of the Jode family, the high point of which was a dog bite in Tulsa Oklahoma, I rolled down the Black Canyon Highway into Phoenix. Thus began my lifelong love affair with the Sonoran Desert and the southwest in general.

 Within a week I was able to secure a job with Inspiration Consolidated Copper Co. an open pit mine in a small town about sixty miles east of Phoenix. One morning home from a graveyard shift at the mine in Globe I sat at the breakfast table looking through a copy of Arizona Highways Magazine. It was at this point in time that the seeds of my passion for photography germinated. That morning I hatched the cockamamie idea that I needed to by a camera to record the natural wonders of Arizona so I would be able to show my as yet unborn children what the world used to be.

 Not long after that I walked out of the local camera shop with my first 35mm SLR, unaware that I had found the means to explore my artists vision. Through the lens on that camera I discovered the beauty of Arizona as well as the endless possibilities of art through photography. I remain eternally grateful to the owner of that camera shop who, by patiently enduring and answering my endless stream of questions, gave me my foundation in photography.

Sylvan Summer

Nino

Decomposition of an Icon

Nino Oliastro Bio:

My fascination with art and design was with me even a child. The enjoyment of branding, the layout of an ad, and even structural work like joining two pieces of wood together with an unbreakable bond always interested me.

After my high school years, I suppose I needed to get a career, but I had no clue what to do. Although I knew I wanted to get a decent job, working at minimal wage wouldn’t cut it long. I’d be able to do something that mattered with a degree and could even build on that degree and go as far as a wanted.

I went to a trade school for graphic design. I got my degree and was in the field for eight years. After being laid off from my last job, I went to home improvement. I’m in a similar position now, and I can’t complain one bit. However, I started talking to someone about 10 years ago about finding an extra niche. They mentioned finding something you enjoy and joining groups, and surround yourself with people that have a similar passion.

Realizing that photography was a form of art and a way to tell a story. I started with a point and shoot. Now, of course, I have a full-frame DSLR. I often start out photographing one thing, but sometimes I find other interesting things to photograph along the way. In many cases, those photographs turn out better than my original intended idea. I prefer to capture the left behind, the forgotten, or the abandonment of an object. I find that there’s something to say, something that happened in the past or something that had a life of purpose. It gives us a little history of what was.

My photographs are meant to tell a story. That’s what being an artist means; to be able to convey a message to the viewer. I want them to take away from my photographs an emotion, but I also want them to be intrigued. I think I have a good eye for the not so everyday things. I love photographing in a way other people might not see.

Pamela Russell

Unpainted Bee

Pamela Russell, Bio

I was twenty four when I decided to follow Horace Greeley’s sage advice. On a day near the end of June I picked up stakes and with a U-Haul trailer strapped to the back of my car headed west for the wilds of Arizona. After a week of essentially sleepless travel somewhat reminiscent of the Jode family, the high point of which was a dog bite in Tulsa Oklahoma, I rolled down the Black Canyon Highway into Phoenix. Thus began my lifelong love affair with the Sonoran Desert and the southwest in general.

 Within a week I was able to secure a job with Inspiration Consolidated Copper Co. an open pit mine in a small town about sixty miles east of Phoenix. One morning home from a graveyard shift at the mine in Globe I sat at the breakfast table looking through a copy of Arizona Highways Magazine. It was at this point in time that the seeds of my passion for photography germinated. That morning I hatched the cockamamie idea that I needed to by a camera to record the natural wonders of Arizona so I would be able to show my as yet unborn children what the world used to be.

 Not long after that I walked out of the local camera shop with my first 35mm SLR, unaware that I had found the means to explore my artists vision. Through the lens on that camera I discovered the beauty of Arizona as well as the endless possibilities of art through photography. I remain eternally grateful to the owner of that camera shop who, by patiently enduring and answering my endless stream of questions, gave me my foundation in photography.