For Tequila Time #7 (can you believe it?!?) Parimal Deshpande and I got together with a few hundred of my best friends and took a deep dive into Human Canvas, the most personal project of my life.
I am pleased to say my publisher Earth Aware Editions is giving away a free copy of Human Canvas to a lucky viewer, as they did last week with Earth Is My Witness. So watch Tequila Time live & you may be a winner too!
In honor of being able to share this work with you on a more candid level than I am accustomed to doing, I have a limited number of the Human Canvas collector’s edition books available with a print for 50% off, and 25% off the trade edition with print on the store, ending this Sunday at midnight PST!
More importantly, check out the video – know what it’s all about, where it came from, and why- and if not my books, find something that DOES speak to you to add to your life. Surround yourself with the things that inspire you and you’ll never run out of creative fuel! Remember to #LiveLIkeAnArtist!
Hot on the heels of Wild Elephants, I’m excited to announced that the trade edition of Human Canvas is officially published as of today! I’ve forever been fascinated by the traditions and rituals of indigenous people world wide, and as a visual storyteller whom seeks to discover metaphors and relationships in my subjects, the practices of body painting have long been fascinating to me.
In creating the Human Canvas Project, my goal has been to combine the aesthetically complicated form of the human body with the elements of design to create images that are both interesting and immersive upon first glance and rewarding to those who linger longer. Art is subjective, and I truly believe this book has something to offer everyone.
This book build upon the images contained in the luxuriously packaged and printed Human Canvas Collector’s editionwith more images and plates in an affordable package that retains the quality of materials that photo book collectors will appreciate.
Purchase Human Canvas today for yourself or a holiday gift for the artist and photographer in your life!
I’ve only just begun a couple months of heavy travel, but in between I’ll be back in Seattle just long enough to catch my breath. This happens to coincide with the annual Kenmore Camera Digital Photo Expo, which is always a fantastic event full of passionate presenters and the latest and greatest equipment from the digital photography world available for hands-on evaluation!
Please note – I’ll only be available at the expo myself on Saturday, November 2nd from 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM and I’ll have my new books Wild Elephants and Human Canvas on hand to sell and sign, along with a selection of my other popular books.
You should definitely check out both days of the expo if you can. There will be a number of speakers on hand from a variety of backgrounds and companies. There is sure to be something for everyone, and so much information to be absorbed.
If you’re in the market for new equipment, or simply a photography enthusiast looking to gather all the knowledge you possibly can from experts in the field and those with the technical know-how to answer your equipment related questions – take advantage of this opportunity!
Happy Friday! I begin October on the road for a month of travel, and when I return home I’m gong to be VERY busy putting signatures to my new books that have been pre-ordered though my website. We’ve obtained our advance copies of both Wild Elephants and the trade edition of Human Canvas– and both are of the highest quality and look fantastic! If you have held the equally fantastic and award winningTreesbook that was published last year, you know what to expect.
Wild Elephantsnot only features the greatest elephant photos of my career, but also includes text by Dr. Samuel Wasser that describes the issues and most importantly the solutions being employed to protect elephant species in Africa and Asia.
Human Canvasfocuses on combining photography with body painting inspired by the many cultures I’ve encountered around the globe, bringing you a mixture of patterns and textures influenced by the indigenous peoples I’ve encountered on my travels.
Order your copies of Wild Elephants and Human Canvas today to guarantee you receive a signed copy when they are available in the coming weeks!
It’s hard to believe we are half way through 2018! Summer is here and the flycatchers, chickadees, and hummingbirds are nesting in the yard. I wanted to take some time to update you on some exciting upcoming book news, as well as several new additions to the workshop calendar:
My latest book project Trees: Between Earth and Heaven has been sent off to the printer. We will have copies here in late October and I have a pre-order special going that includes a signed copy of the book and a small print. This will be another gorgeous, weighty tome—on the scale of Earth Is My Witness with three gatefolds and 296 pages. Once again Wade Davis has penned an introduction, and text is by noted author Greg McNamee. Please note that there will be a tree planted by Roots of Peace for every copy of the book sold.
Interested in being in your own Human Canvas? Recently I had a request from friends to do a custom piece with them as models and it turned out magnificently. I personally will work with you in creating your own unique piece. Please reach out through our contact page.
We’ve just posted seven – count ‘em, seven – new workshops for 2019! Highlights include Holi and tigers in India, Katmai Bears (I have locked down the best time to see them), and an autumn photo journey to Romania. Native son Gavriel Jecan will be co-leading in Romania with me and he will guide us to all his favorite locations in the magnificent Carpathian Mountains. We might see bears there too! I have also posted the 2019 editions of Abstract Astoria and Mount Rainier Wildflowers.
It’s shaping up to be a very full second half of 2018 and I am looking forward to some fantastic photo opportunities in 2019 and beyond. I hope you can join me for some of them! You can also save 20% on my current and very popular print of the month featuring a bear fishing in Katmai, Alaska – one of the locations you’ll find on my list of workshops – and check out my first half images for 2018. Keep in mind just about any image you can find in any of my books, on the website itself, or the stock site is likely available as a print – contact my staff and we will set you up with pricing and details, and I’ll personally sign it before we send it your way!
Based in Germany with clients worldwide, The Art of Wild Gallery is very proud and happy to represent many of the images of my Human Canvas project. I feel the Human Canvas is the culmination of my artistic endeavors, a body of work that combines my work with traditional cultures, camouflage, and art into a photographic whole.
Using art and its presentation as a vehicle of analysis, inspiration and emotional engagement The Art of Wild Gallery contributes to the discourse about the relationship between man and nature. Presenting a high-class selection of well-curated, visually stimulating and thoughtful bodies of work and artists that focus on this relationship, The Art of Wild Gallery wishes to accentuate art’s role in reflecting critically, emotionally and creatively to a changing world.
1) Limited to 8 participants (and only 2 spots left now!), this guarantees more one-on-one time with Art in the field. Due to the intensive nature of this workshop it is critical for participants to have an opportunity to work closely with Art so he can thoroughly explain the magic behind complex compositions.
2) Art will incorporate lectures from his popular seminar Photography As Art (also coming to Portland on May 7th!) as it is the main focus of this workshop. If you have seen this seminar and are looking to take the next step with this type of photography this is the workshop for you. Art will drive home the concepts that he teaches during that seminar in the field and will change the way you look at photography altogether.
3) It is extended by one day. This means one entire extra day in the field, providing us with the opportunity to incorporate some of the new locations that Art just scouted this year. It also gives the participants a bigger variety of photographic opportunities and compositions.
4) The extra day also grants us time to incorporate morning critiques throughout the workshop instead of having it at the end. This is fantastic because you will have time to learn from your mistakes while there is still time to photograph in the field.
5) The great thing about this location is that many people do not see the photographic potential that it has to offer, so it is fantastic to open up your perspectives on things. It is amazing to see the transformation of what starts as an old rusty object, and becomes a magnificent piece of artwork.
6) We will take the opportunity to work with 6-stop Neutral Density filters to show people how they can use them in the field to add an ethereal quality to their photographs. The many pilings that the surrounding area has to offer is a perfect subject for this.
7) The accommodations that we have selected are top notch! The Cannery Pier hotel offers nice hors d’oeuvres and wine every evening, granting our participants a chance to relax and socialize after an intensive day in the field.
8) The city of Astoria also has very nice restaurants where the entire group will dine together every evening. It’s nice to have an opportunity to have meals together as you really get to know the entire group better. Many people form long-lasting friendships after attending our workshops together.
9) See Astoria, Oregon which holds the distinction of being the first permanent United States settlement on the Pacific coast and for having the first U.S. post office west of the Rocky Mountains.
10) Don’t forget, you get a Human Canvas Book, with a collectors edition print! Add this wonderful collectors edition signed and numbered book+print to your collection, as an added bonus.
“I took this workshop to begin to develop “seeing” beyond the obvious. This workshop definitely started me along this path. Mr. Wolfe dedicated a morning to instill an appreciation into the abstract world and with his critiques of our images, added to my understanding of abstractions in photography. I plan to bring these elements into my landscape photography to see beyond the obvious.”
-Walter D.
Finally, check out the participant photo gallery for some of the amazing images captured in past Abstract Astoria workshops:
Some years are publishing years, some are traveling, 2015 was for reshaping the business—a necessity in the ever-changing photography industry. I closed my downtown Seattle gallery and launched this website, focusing my core business online and allowing me the ability to concentrate on other projects, of which there are many.
All the filming that I did in 2014 with Abraham Joffe and the Untitled Film Works crew—in East Africa, Papua New Guinea, Alaska, and here in Seattle—finally came to fruition. Tales by Light is a joint Canon Australia and National Geographic Channel production & I hope it comes to the US soon!
Travel & Photography: The year was bookended by East Africa
While travel slowed somewhat in 2015, I still managed trips to Tanzania (twice), Kenya, Yellowstone National Park (twice), Antarctica, India, Bali, Japan, Iceland, Washington State, Alaska, Svalbard, California, and Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park. The final expedition of the year was to the Danakil Basin of Ethiopia.
Presentations, Gallery Shows, and Articles
I lectured at, among other places, Florida’s Ft. Lauderdale Museum of Fine Art, Seattle’s Benaroya Hall, Portland’s OMSI, and at #OPTIC2015 in New York. Human Canvas took over the Rotella Gallery in Soho for the month of November. DPreview.com published several well-received articles on my experiences photographing emperor penguins, humpback whales, and Iceland.
Books: A year of foreign editions
The Art of the Photograph in Spanish
Earth Is My Witness in French and German by National Geographic
Vanishing Act in USA, German & French
Awards & Honoraria
Earth Is My Witness garnered several publishing awards, including an IBPA Benjamin Franklin and an Independent Publisher. As for moi, I was named honorary chair of Washington Wild.
Take a virtual tour of the Human Canvas by Art Wolfe exhibit currently at the Rotella Gallery in Soho, New York, through December 3rd. This is a show you don’t want to miss!
Monday – Saturday 10am – 7pm, Sunday 11am – 6pm
468 West Broadway
New York, NY 10012
The Rotella Gallery invites appreciators and collectors of Fine Art Photography to join us for the exhibition of internationally renowned photographer, Art Wolfe and his “Human Canvas.” The highly collectible Human Canvas series is a culmination of Wolfe’s extensive background in painting and photography. Blending these two disciplines manifests as an intriguingly unique showcase of Art’s talents and insight, which challenges our perception and concept of nude photography.
Details
The Rotella Gallery will be hosting an opening reception for the exhibit on November 5th, 2015 from 6-9pm, including a meet and greet with Art Wolfe.
Human Canvas will run from November 5th – December 3rd, 2015. The location of the exhibit and opening reception will be held at the Rotella Gallery SOHO.
The exhibit is open the public Mon-Sat 10am-7pm, Sun 11am-6pm. We do ask however, that you please RSVP for the reception by emailing rsvp@rotellagallery.com. For general inquiries, please contact inquiries@rotellagallery.com or 212-260-1140.
I’ve only just begun a couple months of heavy travel, but in between I’ll be back in Seattle just long enough to catch my breath. This happens to coincide with the annual 
