About the Artist - Nevin A. Shrage
In recent years, I’ve found my wanderlust across the Southwest slowed by the drag of a backpack full of camera gear. Photography at first was just a way to capture the magnificence of the West and bring a small piece of it home with me. Big color and reality, gave way to a more interpretive high-contrast black & white style. A more refined printing technique paved the way towards fine art.
For anyone who’s travelled throughout the American West, wide open spaces, big skies and rugged terrain meet the eye from every direction. Over time I’ve forged a style that seeks to convey the sense of vast open space, sunlight, sky, and the harsh unforgiving landscape. While there are many landscape images in my work, I also appreciate Western icons like old mission churches, territorial houses, and big clouds shot in high contrast on black & white film.
Who knows why people are inspired by things. Maybe I watched too many westerns growing up but I seem to be drawn to the high plains and deserts of the Southwest. Santa Fe, Taos, and Tucson, are some of my favorite places to stop along the trails while roaming the back roads of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah. Old missions like, San Francisco de Assisi (Rancho de Taos), San Xavier del Bac, Santuario de Chimayo and San Juan Capistrano are but a few vestiges left of the Old West. Ghosts of the past can be found in the abandon cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde, Canyon de Chelly, the living Taos Pueblo, Shiprock, Valley of the Gods, Monument Valley, and the native lands around Four Corners known as Indian Country.
Technical Information
All images were captured on film with either a Pentax 67II or a Hasselblad XPan, and now, the newest edition to my collection of outdated technology, the Horseman SW612. In making the B&W images on this site, primarily three films were used including Konica 750 infrared film (no longer manufactured), Kodak TMAX, and Rollei IR400. Most of the color images were shot on Fuji Velvia50 or Velvia100.
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For B&W images, the process includes a high-resolution drum scan which is then printed using pigment inks on high quality Hahnemühle paper. The result is a museum quality print that has been tested to be archival for at least 70 years and even up to 120 years. With pigment inks there is no color cast or the chance of color shift over time that can occur with dye based inks or even photographs. Besides the lasting nature of these prints you will notice a depth and richness of tone not found in many silver-halide photographic prints. Color images employ the same scanning process but are printed as Lightjet prints on archival Fuji photographic papers.
All printing is done by Reed Photo in Denver, CO, a master printer of fine art photographic prints in Denver since 1979.
Copyright
All images contained in these galleries or displayed on this website have been copyrighted and are the intellectual property of the artist and WayOutWest Photo. Prints are sold for personal display purposes only and no reproduction rights are granted. Scanning or copying the image in any way is considered infringement of the photographer's copyright and a violation of federal copyright law. Any unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Property rights will be vigorously protected.
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