Jerry Peek
About Jerry Peek
I took my first photos at age 7... my parents had good intuition! I'm mostly self-taught, though I took a graduate-level class at the University of New Mexico with a professor who was making black-and-white photos of golf course greens. I learned a lot about abstract photography there and came to love it. Composition is especially important to me... I don't know any formal rules; I've learned by looking at photos and paintings. By now I have some 80,000 photos (and have thrown away several times that many... I spend a lot of time looking at photos, picking the very best, and tossing the rest). Although I mostly shoot digital color now, black and white is my favorite because it emphasizes shape, texture and light. The photographer who's influenced me most is Harry Callahan; I can't get enough of his simple, elegant and mysterious compositions. People ask what kinds of things I photograph... my answer is "anything that interests me"... though, if I had to choose, I'd say modern architecture. I've taken hundreds of photos for The Tucson Murals Project blog, which is still going strong after almost 15 years.
Preferred Pronouns: he/his
https://jerrypeekphotography.com/
Mitten Glow
Untitled (PF)
Magical Path
Open Studio Tour
About the Process
I use free software. For instance, instead of paying monthly for Photoshop, I use the free and powerful GIMP editor. I designed a numbering and storage system that makes it easy to find any of my 80,000 photos within a minute or two. (I won't bore you with details, but please feel free to ask.) If I edit a photo, I keep both the original and the edited version(s) along with notes about what I did; that makes it easy to tweak or re-do editing anytime in the future. With some photos (like Mitten Glow) I'll try random editor features and see if I like the effect. (GIMP has hundreds of controls, and any programmer can add more. I also use other editors if I want one of their features.) Otherwise, I work to make the photo as realistic as I can... I usually don't do things like making colors unrealistically bright, as many photographers do these days. I sometimes spend hours editing a photo -- especially ones from film, which can have little imperfections like dust spots and grain. I often change perspective (whether straight lines come together or bend away). I'm always amazed at how tiny changes in the dimensions of a photo can make or break the composition.
How to Purchase
For handmade prints on fine art photo paper, please visit jerrypeekphotography.com, then click on Purchase for prices and more information. There are many other choices, including ceramic tiles and prints on metal; both give a photo extra brilliance.
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