Like most photographers under the age of 45, I started in color photography. The convenience of inexpensive film and fast service offered by the local discount store was so appealing. After a year I went to work at a photo lab, still doing primarily color photography. As my interest in photography matured I became interested more and more in black and white photography.Black and white was my obsession for 10 years and is still my main focus in photography. In 1997 I felt that maybe I was missing out on some other creative outlets by doing only large format black and white so I added the equipment necessary for color photography to my darkroom. Having worked now in the photofinishing industry for 15 years the process was not foreign to me.
I spent some time exploring color photography in various film formats: 135, 120 and 4x5, and found that I am perfectly happy working in 35mm. For me color photography is very easy compared to black and white. I mean no disrespect to photographers like Eliot Porter, Philip Hyde, Ctein and Christopher Burkett who bring color photography to an amazing level. For me the desire to strive for that level does not exist. On an average black and white print I will spend 3 to 5 hours printing in the darkroom but with a color print the time spent is more in the 10 to 20 minute range. Also, I feel lucky to make one really good black and white photograph a month but with color photography I seem to be able make several good color photographs on any given day. The color photographs presented on this web site have been produced in a few month span of time unfortunately these reproductions don't show the subtlety of color present in the original prints.
Color Stuhr Museum Page
Stuhr Museum Page 2
Still Life Page
Color Landscape Page
Jeff's Home Page