I began photography with a class at the Indianapolis Art Center.  I pursued photography by reading books and teaching myself.  In 1999 I had the good fortune to meet and study with the first of three people who had worked with Ansel Adams.  I have considered this a big turning point in my career as Ansel Adams is the reason I chose to photograph in black & white.

I find black & white photography to be the most expressive form of photography.  All of the colors that attract me to a subject are reduced to black, gray or white.  I think of what I do as photographing the "soul" of the scene.  A famous photographer once said "anyone could be taught to be a good color photographer because they were capturing what they saw, but learning black and white photography was like learning a foreign language."

I do traditional photography.  All of my images are captured on film.  The film is hand processed by me and each image is printed by me in a wet darkroom using chemistry.  There is no digital or computer involvement in any of my work.  Each image is printed on fiberbased paper, selenium toned for archival purposes, and mounted on acid-free board.  I currently shoot with a 4 x 5 large format camera using sheet film.

nolanjd@mac.com