About

 Fine Art Photography:

So where do I get off calling my images fineart? Actually, fine art photography is a type of photography, as is commercial photography and photojournalism.
According to Wikipedia: “Fine art photography refers to photographs that are created to fulfill the creative vision of the artist. Fine art photography stands in contrast to photojournalism and commercial photography. Photojournalism provides visual support for stories, mainly in the print media. Commercial photography’s main focus is to sell a product or service.”

As is typical in the art world, generally accepted definitions are hard to come by; however, this one seems close enough for me.

Me:
Over the years I had a few careers: lawyer; contractor; student chef; lawyer again; and winery owner. Throughout that time I’ve always been a photographer. In fact, I’ve been taking pictures for 50 years or so, ever since my grandfather gave me my first camera, an Agfa Plenax PB 20, a bellows camera that was pretty old even back then. I’ve had darkrooms for both color and black and white for over 30 years, until 1999 when I went totally digital.

I’m largely self taught, although I’ve taken courses from Charles Cramer and Michael Frye. Since the spring of 2007, I’ve taught Digital Fine Art Printing at Portland Community College (see “classes/exhibits”). While my style continues to evolve (whose doesn’t over 50 years), my photographs tend to break down into two types: those that look like photographs and those that don’t. Most of those that don’t tend to look as if they were somehow captured in an earlier time.

Copyright:
All images on this website are copyright Ron Kaplan, and may not be reproduced, distributed, publicly displayed or made into a derivative work without the written permission of Ron Kaplan.