About

| artist statement |

“Show me a man who speaks no words and I will have a conversation with him.” ~Chuang Tzu

As a trained lawyer, I needed to find a voice beyond words. I found that new voice—photography—in the serene beauty of the American West. Mountains are where my voice comes from. For me, photography is as much about the reflective moments in the wilderness as it is about the image. In those moments of commune in the wilderness, I hear and feel a different voice echoing from the mountains around me. Every once in a while, when the light is just right, and the roaring silence of nature rings loud across the mountains, the canyons, the arroyos, and the hills of the west, I feel the spark of the divine within all things. It’s those moments I attempt to capture in my photographs. In addition to providing a beautiful visual image, I hope that every one of my photographs tells the viewer something of my spirit and the spirit of a place that words alone cannot adequately convey.

| about the photographer |

Born and raised in Wisconsin, Brian enjoyed the outdoors with his family as a child. Following law school, he and his wife Liz, a native Minnesotan, decided they needed a change of scenery and moved to New Mexico. Brian and Liz were immediately enchanted by the mountains of New Mexico and Colorado. Together with their dog Diego (the inspiration for Desert Dog Photography), Brian and Liz embraced the adventure spirit of the American West as they explored the Four Corners from their base in Blanco, New Mexico.

For career reasons, Brian and Liz moved to beautiful Santa Fe in 2004. Brian currently works as an attorney with the State of New Mexico in Santa Fe. Liz continues to do extremely important and rewarding work protecting endangered species and habitat for the Endangered Species Coalition. Brian’s photography is an extension of Liz’s good and grand work, and the work of so many others like her, of protecting the natural world. The images of Desert Dog Photography reflect the artist’s commitment to preserving and protecting wildness across America and the world.

| about the photographer’s assistants |

My wife Liz serves as my primary assistant. She likes to refer to herself as the sherpa- carrying equipment, holding filters, assisting in lens switches, setting up camp, cooking meals, and nudging me awake at 4 a.m. so we can make it to locations for sunrise. She also assists in purchasing supplies, filing paperwork, and shipping prints.

My second assistant is our dog, Diego. Diego is a great companion in our travels to locations: scouting sites, hiking trails, climbing mountains, and getting right to the egde and looking over the precipice. In addition, he makes sure to keep us safe from the wildlife while we camp.

| about desert dog photography |

My company name, Desert Dog Photography, was inspired by Diego. He is an intrepid adventurer and enjoys finding new sites for photography.

| about the digital process |

Photos are processed in my home studio. Images are processed to create the best print quality. My digital darkroom gives me complete control of photography process from the time I trip the shutter until the output of the final print. The digital darkroom is not that different from the traditional darkroom process. When people hear that the digital darkroom relies on Adobe Photoshop, they often develop an irrational reaction that somehow the picture is less real then a traditionally developed print. However, these people fail to realize the amount of “manipulation” that occurs in a traditional darkroom in terms of dodging and burning elements of an image. Ansel Adams, perhaps the finest landscape photographer in history, relied heavily on darkroom techniques like dodging and burning to extract elements of his images out onto the print. The digital darkroom, through Photoshop, allows for the use of traditional development techniques without the chemicals or the time of a traditional darkroom.