DICK SANDERS PHOTOGRAPHY
 La Quinta, California 92253                                                       About    Purchase    Contact                      
     
About Dick Sanders
I was born in Santa Monica, California and my parents gave me a Brownie camera on my 6th birthday. This began a life-long love affair with photography. By age 13, I purchased darkroom gear and chemicals and set up in the bathroom after dark. My folks got tired of that and had my uncle build a darkroom for me in the garage. I spent hundreds of hours there. By age 16, I started a freelance photography business, and a few nice people paid for a photo now and then. At age 23, after college and a stint in the US Naval Air Reserve, I landed a job with Sid Avery, who is best known for his Hollywood portraits of Humphrey Bogart, James Dean, and Elizabeth Taylor. Avery also did both of the "Oceans Eleven" publicity photos. When I worked for him, however, he was doing print advertising and TV commercials. We worked on big campaigns for U.S. Steel, Coffee-Mate, Brown and Jordan, Mattel Toys (Hot Wheels), and a new Japanese car called Toyota. When I left the Avery studio I started my own business, shooting album covers and publicity photos for the music industry. Some of the artists I met at this time were Blue Mitchell, Harold Land, James Taylor, and Barbara Streisand. In time, I realized I loved photography too much to mix it with business, so I switched careers, first to newspaper and magazine ad sales, and then to promotional copywriting, which I still do today. This move allowed me to pursue photography on a personal basis. By the early 1990s, I made "serious portraiture" the focus of my fine-art work, and by the late 1990s I focused even more narrowly on “street portraiture of strangers.” What's fascinating about this work is the thrill of meeting someone new and the challenge of getting a good portrait in just 2 or 3 minutes (typically what they will allow). I've done well and have found the work immensely satisfying (see exhibitions and awards below). Today, I make my home in La Quinta, California with my wife Maryann Jane, and our Turkish cat, Teddy.



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About the Photographs
To create my photographs I use a variety of medium and large format film cameras, including Holga and pinhole. My favorite camera for street portraiture is the Pentax 6x7 II with 90mm and 135mm lenses. This camera produces a quality 2 1/4 by 2 3/4 inches negative, which I scan into Photoshop with an Epson V750 Pro scanner. I make archival pigment prints on baryta coated fine-art paper with the Epson Pro 3880 printer. I also make archival gelatin-silver prints in the darkroom, using a Calumet Zone VI 5x7 inch enlarger, fitted with a variable contrast cold-light head. All photos are in editions of 20 prints, priced at $450 unmatted and $500 matted, not including shipping. To purchase a print go to www.photoeye.com/dicksanders or send me an email.



Gallery Representation
Photoeye, Photographers Showcase
376 Garcia Street, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 87501
(505) 988-5152 www.photoeye.com/dicksanders



Group Exhibitions
2011International Art of Photography Show, San Diego, California, juried by Anne Lyden, Associate Curator of Photography, J. Paul Getty Museum Los Angeles
 
2011Center Forward, Denver International Airport, juried by Hamidah Glasgow, Director Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO
 
2011Human + Being (Juror's Selection), Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO, juried by Phil Borges
 
2010Black & White Show, Minneapolis Photo Center, juried by George Slade
 
2010Interactive Portraits, Vermont Photo Space, juried by Graham Gordon Ramsay
 
2010Julia Dean Alternative Photography Contest, Venice Beach, California, juried by Kathleen McLachlan and Ann Elliott Cutting
 
2008International Art of Photography Show, San Diego California, juried by Carol McCusker, Photography Curator San Diego Museum Of Photographic Arts
 
2008The Dress Show, Fraction Magazine Online, Curated by Melanie McWhorter of photoeye.com.
 
2006International Art of Photography Show, San Diego, California, juried by Arthur Ollman, Director San Diego Museum of Photographic Arts.
 
2002American Photo (1st Place Portraits and People), American Photo Magazine, New York City
 
1997The Varieties of Spiritual Experience, 29 Palms Art Gallery, Twenty-Nine Palms, California
 
1996The Red Door: A Floating Opera, Tanno Gallery, Twenty-Nine Palms, California
 
1996Homeless Teens: Hollywood, Tanno Gallery, Twenty-Nine Palms, California



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Solo Exhibitions
1998The Portraits at Sam´s Market, Park Center Gallery, Joshua Tree, California
 
1994Portraits of Our Children, Monument Galleries, Joshua Tree, California



Awards and Recognition
20111st Place, Human + Being Show, Phil Borges juror, Center For Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO
 
2008Honorable Mention, International Art of Photography Show, San Diego, CA
 
20021st Place, Portraits & People, Readers Contest #7, American Photo Magazine, New York City
 
19951st Place, Members Show, 29 Palms Art Gallery, Twenty-Nine Palms, California
 
19941st Place, Members Show, 29 Palms Art Gallery, Twenty-Nine Palms, California
 
19941st Place, Southland Show, 29 Palms Art Gallery, Twenty-Nine Palms, California



Publications
2010Black & White, MPLS Photo Center Publication, Minneapolis, Minnesota, George Slade Curator
 
2008Fraction Magazine (online), The Dress Show, Melanie McWhorter, Santa Fe, New Mexico
 
2002American Photo Magazine. David Schonauer, Editor. Hachette Filipacchi Media, New York, NY
 
1997Best of Photography Annual. Linda Lowell, Steve La Voie, Douglas Peck. Glen Serbin, Photographer's Forum, Santa Barbara, California



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Design By: Brian Brown
Copyright © Dick Sanders Photography 2012