|
Allan and his wife Judith moved to Port Townsend
in January of 2009 after living the past 30 years in Portland,
OR and 30 years before that in Chicago, IL. They expect to spend
at least the next 30 years here in Port Townsend! Allan says
"I've been attracted to this wonderful community ever since
first visiting it in the early 70's. For a town its size, Port
Townsend has an unparalleled arts community. That, combined,
with its magnificent setting, makes it an ideal place to continue
to explore my photography".
Allan's imagery emerges from travels throughout the United States,
Europe, Mexico, Japan, Bali, Tahiti, and South Africa. His interest
in oriental philosophies permeates his work. Since 1984, he
has enjoyed printing all of his photographs in the darkroom,
interpreting the slide to create the most expressive print possible.
In early 2004, he began to make the transition to producing
his prints from digital scans of his slides, which can afford
even more interpretive freedom while maintaining the same high
quality.
Allan has been exploring the art of photography since 1969.
Now living in Port Townsend, Allan was born in Chicago, Illinois,
where his first artwork was exhibited at the age of 12 at the
Art Institute of Chicago. He began photographing while pursuing
a career as a psychotherapist. After graduating from college,
he purchased a Pentax Spotmatic 35mm camera to take with him
to Europe. It is the camera he still uses for all of his photographs.
Returning to the States with his 3x5 snapshots, he was given
his first show at a gallery in Philadelphia where he was attending
medical school. Leaving medical school to pursue a career as
a psychotherapist, he continued to exhibit his photographs in
Chicago and throughout the Midwest.
In 1974, he left the mental health field to devote full time
to his career as a fine art photographer. Since that time, his
prints have been shown in galleries and exhibit spaces in 14
cities nationwide and are included in numerous private, public
and corporate collections around the world. Allan has been featured
in Photo Media's issue on fine art photography and Foto & Video,
published in Moscow, Russia.
His images are included in Human Nature: the Japanese Garden
of Portland, Oregon. He has taught photography workshops and/or
been guest instructor for Center of the Eye, Oregon College
of Arts and Crafts and the Portland Art Museum School. Allan
states that his earliest memory goes back to when he was just
18 months old. He remembered his brother lifting him up to their
living room window to see a magnificent rainbow over Lake Michigan.
Allan believed that at that moment, he was imprinted with a
passion for color. In his photographic work over the years,
he has enjoyed the challenge of finding "completed canvases"
hidden within our day-to-day experience.
According to Allan, we are typically, bombarded by a multitude
of color. He finds that he is attracted to simpler color palettes.
As a result, many of his images have a more painterly than photographic
feel. Allan tries to accentuate the emotional impact of color
and simplicity of composition to invite the viewer to attend
to deeper layers of meaning in the photograph. His goal is to
"liberate" rather than "capture" the moment. His work represents
a broad range of imagery, mostly because there is a lot to which
his eyes respond. While the subject matter is diverse, the painterly
feel creates a stylistic unity. Allan can unabashedly say that
he has no fear of beauty and looks for it everywhere.
|
|
|
 |
|
914
water street, port townsend, washington 98368 | telephone (360) 385-3630