[KELP JOURNAL] Lowell, your photos are so striking. I think it’s the concentration of color even in--or maybe especially in--the black and white photos. All of the photos are dominated by a deep saturated color that fills the entire frame. I was wondering what your intent was in framing your photos this way.
[LOWELL DOWNEY] I was working on this image from Maui as your email arrived. I will answer a couple of your questions in this part. The storm was approaching as night was setting in. An image tells a story. Color tracks the eye, involving the viewer in the story. Color involves the viewer in a different dimension than black and white. The phenomenological subtext plays with the subconscious. An image of a cellar invokes a different response than an image of a kitchen. The image is a threshold into psychological worlds. Does the storm threaten you? Or is it the color that enhances the mystery compelling you to stay and linger within its story? The choice is definitely a personal decision on my part as to where I want the viewer to go. Yet, it is always subjective. I don't seek to make something beautiful. Beauty is a judgement. When we make judgments we stop seeing.
[KJ] You have also accomplished the holy grail by merging your artistic and working lives with your company, Art and Clarity. Can you talk about how you came to create this multimedia company?
[LD] My partner and I were in the process of running a nonprofit arts organization in San Francisco dealing with concept driven art and modern cut of the edge visions by Bay Area artists. The yuppie economic crisis happened and we received a letter from a foundation saying that the arts would not be a priority, as they had more demanding social concerns to channel their funds, like AIDS and homelessness. Art would have to wait. We saw the writing on the wall. So, taking that sharp stick out of the eye, we decided to use our strengths and launch a business. My partner was accomplished in architecture photography, portraits, and events. She had a formal background and I had a documentary background. So, we merged our talents. Thirty-one years later we have published, exhibited in museum and gallery shows, photographed for dance companies, rock and roll bands, concerts, created covers and editorials for magazines, worked for major corporations, and created portraits for a myriad of people from the pregnant woman to the corporate director. Diversity is a strength. With our Art of Seeing Adventure class, we teach photography out in nature, helping people learn to see differently. We went through repressions and the digital age, weathering what came. One day we are using Hasselblads, the Pentax 6x7, 4x5s and 8x10 cameras. The next day our competitors are young creatives living at home with their parents and working with cellphones and an entirely different aesthetic channeled by social media. We went through an earthquake that destroyed the home and studio, and fires that wrecked the economy and lives of friends. We love what we do and accept the challenges for what may come next. Artists can be very stubborn.
[KJ] One thing all creatives talk about is the balance of work and creative lives. Now that yours are even more intertwined, how do you find time for personal projects and artistic endeavors?
[LD] It is more complicated taking on a personal project while trying to do business and serve our clients. Serving our clients always comes first. Where there's a will, there is a way. Creatively, we are more than our business, and yet it is the creative willpower that enables us to bring our highest selves to our clients. Years ago, I had a commission to photograph the entire Napa River for a museum exhibition. This was a year-and-a-half project, yet it was completed as if the museum was a client. We are always working on personal projects. I had a commission to photograph five hot air balloon adventures around the world. While it took me away from my business, it made me a better photographer and added to the tools in my bag. I don't pressure myself with a deadline or expect certain goals to be met at such and such a date. I want artistic expression to be free. I've been working on one project for nine years now. It has multiple moving pieces and the human dynamic is deep. It will realize itself in time. It can't be forced.
[KJ] With such a lengthy and storied career, what has kept you going in the arts? Stubbornness? Passion? What advice would you/do you give to people taking on this endeavor?
[LD] I have asked myself that many times. Art & Clarity, our business, is teamwork. Even though my wife and I divorced after 20 years, we continued to work together and be of support to our son and show up in the community doing the good work, volunteering and providing discounts for nonprofits, working to help realize our community’s potential in various ways. We do our work well, and are constantly working to do it better, to push ourselves creatively and physically. I am an artist and I believe in the importance of art in our community. Art is the breath and the heartbeat for me. My Masters is in Dramatic Writing from New York University, and I spent 20 years in theatre and film before committing to photography and multimedia. Sometimes, during bad economic cycles, the worst curse is making just enough money not to quit. So, stubbornness and passion rolled up into one become two key players. Being an artist opened up many doors that I wouldn't have walked through otherwise. I taught photography at the college for a couple of years and I found teaching to be deeply meaningful. The creative drive in my students was inspiring. And learning to teach was a worthy challenge. I can't walk away from a lifetime of knowledge and passion that has defined my purpose and joy.
I'm most careful about giving advice. One of my younger students many years ago wanted to become a photographer as she was heading off to college to study archaeology. I told her that her passion for photography can be most useful in archeology. Today, she has her masters in archeology and uses her photography talent. A young man came up to me almost 30 years ago and wanted to be my assistant. I trained him in the use of the medium format, working events and creative projects. He is now a great architecture photographer using the digital Hasselblad and other large format cameras. The student became greater than the teacher. Any advice would be to study hard and have deep pockets, for this business is constantly changing. The jobs of tomorrow have not been invented yet. Where photography is going is absolutely anyone's guess. Ai is going to dominate the industry. For us, we got a call one day by Mastercard and they wanted us to shoot their new card and an event in San Francisco. And they wanted us to do it digitally in a week. Nikon had just released the D1, and the order was backed up for months. We spent thousands of dollars at this camera store almost weekly. With a little encouragement we got the camera in four days, did the job successfully, backing up with film. Even though we got the shoot down, the labs were not ready for digital and the software was still in the weeds. Today, new photographers are going to have to invest significantly and be ready for the same lightning-fast changes in technology, new cameras, investments in software, etc. Also, new photographers are going to have to navigate the struggle of identity: are they really photographers or simply digital manipulators creating products that are not real and trustworthy. This is a big issue. We cannot believe anything we see anymore. So, for some people, being a digital manipulator and graphic designer is fine. Being a successful photographer, with a complete understanding of the working of the camera (f stops and iso and such) along with composition and the use of light and the studio modifiers is another challenge. Is the new student up for the long haul? During the long haul, one builds one's instinct and finds one's purpose - or not. Photographing the hummingbird and the hawk taught me the skills to photograph the rock and roll singer as well as the woman on the surfboard with backlight. Developing a love for humanity, appreciating the lines in a face, the arch of the pregnant belly, has made me a better portrait photographer. And then there is light, the delicate yet harsh teacher called light.
So, young people need to stay in school and get a degree in their passion/skill. Get a job that has benefits. Keep studying the camera. Keep it as a useful friend. Make yourself happy. If you can find a niche that you can fit into, do so. Let your passion flourish and focus. If you like scuba diving, study underwater photography. Be happy.
Lowell Downey is a founder and co-owner of Art & Clarity, a multimedia company based in Napa, CA. He tells stories of the cultures of the world and the environment through the photographic arts and the poetics of his writing. The recipient of two museum commissions, two book commissions and several awards, his work hangs in private collections and has appeared in numerous publications and exhibitions. Downey’s assignments have taken him to the Czech Republic, India, Chile, Italy, Nicaragua, Dubai, Bolivia and lands in between.
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