ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES - ART WOLFE

The photography of Art Wolfe (1951-) captures the sheer beauty and wonder of the earth's far corners, documenting endangered species and landscapes that could be lost to future generations. His photographs are a profound statement of what exists, as well as a plea for preservation.

Wolfe is a master of composition, an image magician who creates visual symphonies for the eyes and heart. Traveling thousands of miles annually to capture revealing portraits of wildlife, his animal studies capitalize on his subject's distinguishing features, instinctual behavior and natural habitat. "The shots that are most successful are the photographs where the animal and I have direct eye contact. That's the emotion of the moment."

His landscape photographs are virtual paintings which mix vibrant color, texture, shape and the rhythmic pattern of form and space with unusual light conditions. Wolfe creates ethereal, often mystical, impressions of nature, from haunting, misty landscapes to abstract close ups. His photos jar the senses, awaken the imagination, allowing us access into distant worlds.

As the youngest of three children born to a Navy-photographer father and a commercial-artist mother, Wolfe dreamed of becoming a full-time painter, not a photographer. It was at the University of Washington, while majoring in fine arts and art education that he first began experimenting with an old, used camera. Self-taught, he quickly mastered the mechanics of photography which proved to be the perfect medium for him, one which reflected both his strength as a painter and his love of nature and composition.

Wolfe recently hosted "Safari," a television program on ESPN in which he guided celebrities on photographic expeditions into the wild. Working with fund-raising programs for zoos from coast to coast, Wolfe also works on assignment and publishes frequently with periodicals such as National Geographic, National Wildlife, National Audubon and Smithsonian. He also has released "On Location with Art Wolfe," an instructional video filmed in Alaska, regularly leads photographic workshops and has several more books in the works on subjects as diverse as migratory patterns, primates, eagles and the rainforests of the world.