The Many Faces of Gary Heller

Gary Heller Photography caught my attention over a year ago with a stunning winter shot of a farm house. His photography of derelict barns is award winning; he was the Grand Prize recipient of the Historical Ithaca's 2009 Barn Survey competition. His New York water towers have been featured on Warner Bros epic series "V" on the ABC television network. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. His repertoire is vast and not only includes architectural features but also beautiful and dreamy nature photography.

Gary's photography has often been described by his peers with such adjectives as "unusual," "dark," "foreboding," "unique”. One fellow photographer has used the term "pleasantly strange". That description sums it up best for him as he strives for strange, yet pleasing compositions.

Gary says, "I was brought up in a household of culture and an appreciation for the arts. My mother is an artist and would spend much of her free time working on her paintings. I can remember as a child, sitting by her side as she explained to me the how and why of what she was doing. Her influence has been with me ever since. I approach my photography as I would a painting, from composition to post processing."

Gary's latest adventure with self portraiture is fascinating, humorous and inspiring in the technical purity and artistic flair of his work. Portraiture is an area of photography that takes a great amount of skill and to do self portraiture not only takes courage but a bit of self deprecation. Personally, I would love to see Gary do a whole book of these wonderful self portraits. Wouldn't you?

Visit him on Esty at Gary Heller Photography to see all of his award winning work or read about the behind the scenes production of Gary's work on his blog.

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade garyhellerphotograph.etsy.com