MEET THE PHOTOGRAPHER
A native of the Chicago area, I fell in love with the Southwestern landscape at an early age. Over the course of family vacations and other trips West to Arizona, I eventually realized that this was where I wanted to live and write the next chapter of my life. I particularly love Northern Arizona and the Prescott area. There is just something about the pine trees and mountains here that gives me many moments of happiness, peace, and satisfaction! I particularly enjoy capturing those moments in my photos.
Photography is a relatively new artistic pursuit for me, only really taking hold in the last three years or so. Prior to this, my primary artistic experience and outlet has been through music, as I have played several instruments over the years including piano, trumpet, and guitar, plus voice. I am a web designer/developer by trade and run my own business, so digital photography is a nice related area and escape for me at the same time.
Many of my photo sessions are actually quite impromptu. Especially in 2020, I would just spontaneously find the need to take a drive, because I needed to get away and see something different in order to refresh my psyche. I would take my phone with me and stop to look at and snap a picture of anything interesting or unusual that I saw. This is where my interest in photography really took hold.
The feeling of escape, refreshment, and peace I experienced became almost addictive, and I wanted more. I soon discovered that photography had become an outlet for me to journey to a different place, even if it was just for a moment through the viewfinder of my camera.
I’ve continued taking photos and honing my craft ever since.
Consequently, in some mysterious wink of the Universe we can almost thank the events of 2020 for what you see here!
The evolution of my photography represents carefully witnessed moments captured in time. Some are captured by mere luck and chance, while others materialize through careful planning, patience, and persistence. Many are a hybrid of the two.
I consider myself a hybrid in my own right – part travel photographer and part landscape photographer. As you experience my photography, you will find an emphasis on scenic landscapes and other features and locations in the Prescott area and throughout Northern Arizona, because this is where I photograph most often. However, I also enjoy broadening my horizons by taking that same perspective of appreciation for my more temporary environments when I travel. It is in these collective journeys, both near and far, where I strive to inspire the viewer to discover, learn about, and even experience these places themselves.
Having been an avid railfan for as long as I can remember, this also adds a penchant for railroad photography to my body of work, and I incorporate this same appreciation and wonder in those photos as well.
I chose the name Optic Journeys for my exhibit because it represents not only the process and quest of obtaining the photos themselves, but also the journey of curiosity and discovery the viewer takes in experiencing them.
It is through these journeys, with only my thoughts and my camera by my side, where the photographs before you originated and evolved. It is my hope that you enjoy your journey through these captured moments. You just might be surprised at where the road takes you!
– T.J. Burgeson