Here are links to my various projects and services. Everyone is supposed to have a “brand” these days. Can “eclectic” be a brand? Let’s find out . . .
Fine Art Photography
My major projects can be found at https://photo.douglasgstinson.com.
The photographs are organized into galleries, each corresponding to one theme or body of work. My particular interest is in the surprising connection between our sense of the aesthetic and the universality of underlying physical laws. Other work explores the relationship between form, function and design and the discovery of hidden beauty in transitional forms. Some images draw on my experience in land use planning and environmental conservation.
Books
I create photo books and write on subjects that show the connection between multiple aspects of culture and the natural world. These are available for purchase at the links below.
Investigate the web that connects a favorite saint, an American revolution in statined glass design, a west coast cultural renaissance, a charistmatic pastor and a now-obscure Swedish scientist and theologian through The Most Creative Bit of Glass Work in the City.
See how seven photographers interpret the idiosyncratic and sometime decaying architecture of a former religious retreat built by a con artist and the stunning desert landscape and flora that surrounds it Zzyzx and the Mohave Natural Preserve.
Buy the 12×12 in Hardcover
Buy the 7×7 softcover
Learn about the geology and ecology of western New York and how they have influenced the development of the region. The essays combine the authors’ personal experiences walking through the landscape and among the plants with both hard-to-find historical writings and contemporary studies. Together they bring that environment to life. While on one level, this work can be a guide book for anyone exploring the region, more importantly it can help us understand how forces, some ancient and some contemporary, influence our lives. Through this understanding, we gain a deeper sense of place. And, as the author and conservationist Paul Gruchow observed, “with out a sense of place … we will never be truly human.”
Buy the book HERE.
Look. I have no idea why I am obsessed with this damn palm. Buy this book and maybe you can figure it out. If you do, explain it to me. Meanwhile, enjoy this collection of mostly Polaroids, mostly manipulated in some way. That’s all I have to say about that. Buy the book HERE. Oh, it’s also a flip book.
Vanitas is an important genre of still life that juxtaposes beauty with symbols of decay. It seeks to remind one of one’s own mortality; that the pleasures of the day are fleeting. The photographs of leaves, flowers and seeds in Beauty in Transition hold a mirror to that concept and instead show that in every stage of life – including death – beauty develops. Instead of fear of mortality, they bring a feeling of continuity, optimism and joy. Buy the book HERE.
Seven photographers respond to the natural and human-made landscape near Santa Fe, New Mexico by producing images that reflect their own emotional connection to the landscape. These unique interpretations display a diversity of styles and reveal a deeper meaning of “place.” Buy the book HERE.
In Photographic Haiku, eleven photographers express their personal experience of Santa Fe, New Mexico through pho
tographs that embody the principles exemplified by the poetry form Haiku. In the spirit of Haiku, the photographs in this book are authentic and personal; they reveal beauty in the ordinary. Buy the book HERE.
While photography is arguably best known for its ability to capture the beauty
in the realistic representation of a scene, in New Mexico Abstractions, ten photographers explore beyond the literal and interpret the natural and human-made landscape near Santa Fe, New Mexico through abstraction. Rather than a “capture”, these images are a dialog between the photographer and the scene. The result, sometime serendipitously, includes but goes beyond the photographer’s reaction to what is in front of their lens. Collectively, the images represent each photographer’s unique metaphor through which they connect with and share universal meanings. Buy the book HERE.
Bay Area PhotoScene
Bay Area PhotoScene is the most comprehensive database of photography-related events in the San Francisco Bay Area. Click on this link to get a list of all event ending within the next two weeks – so you never miss an event you are interested in. Or, from the main page, click on [Event Search], and search by event type, date and city. You can also become a registered user and receive a customized page when you log-on and receive an email once a week of new events recently added to the database. All for free, and no Ads.
If you have an event you would like listed, click the [Contact Us] button and let me know about it. I only list events that are free to the public or are sponsored by a non-profit or educational organization.
You can see previews of some of the major exhibits on Instagram @bay_area_photoscene.
Photography is a Journey
As I pursue various projects I journal about them at stinsonphotography.wordpress.com. There are articles about interesting places, photographic technology, photography and culture and some tutorials. Hopefully, some of my insights will be of use to others.
Camera Museum
An idiosyncratic collection of cameras that traces the evolution of the camera and their place in popular culture.
Follow on Facebook
Short posts on my most recent work and other interesting photography-related article can be found on my Facebook page.
