Biography:
I bought my first 35mm camera in 1970. Shortly after that I enrolled at Florissant Valley Community College to study art. I found the photography classes to very enjoyable. We studied composition and used photography to creatively express ourselves. At that time we were only working in black and white. In 1972 I participated in my first show with 10 other students. I continued to study photography and to take photos throughout the 70￿s, 80￿s and 90￿s. In 1999 I returned to Florissant Valley at night and in June, 2006 I received Associate in Fine Arts Degree ￿ Photography while working full time. Finally this fall I am retiring and I plan on spending much more time creating photographs.
Artist￿s Statement:
For a number of years I have been into what I call Abstract-Extraction (I compose then Extract part of an object/structure and to create an Abstract image). Many of my images are extractions from an old building, a distorted reflection, an architectural detail and the juxtaposition of adjoining buildings.
The last couple of years I find myself drawn to a Pictorialism Style using manipulation of typically ￿straight￿ photographic materials and create new, more expressive, painterly, altered interpretations as was a way of projecting an emotional intent into the viewer￿s realm of imagination. I do this in Photoshop using plug-ins, layers of textures, and blending them with various opacities into a finished image.
Special Accomplishments:
I have been a member of Art St. Louis for over 10 years and I regularly am selected 3 to 4 times a year for their juried shows. I was have been invited a number of times to participate in their offsite exhibits the latest being at the Des Peres hospital in St. Louis County.
Recently both of my images that I entered the St. Louis 250 Year Sheldon/Beacon photography competition were accepted - one of the pieces a black and white image of Union Station http://fineartamerica.com/featured/union-station-st-louis-b-and-w-dsc00422-greg-kluempers.html will be exhibited at the Sheldon and publish in the companion book project St. Louis at 250, the Sheldon Art Galleries/St. Louis Beacon Citywide Photo Contest.
I am a juried member of Greater St. Louis Artists Association and Best of Missouri Hands and I have been juried into a number of shows/fairs throughout the St. Louis Area including: Queeny Art Fair, Art Outside, Art and Air, Faust Park, Open Studio - the St. Louis Contemporary Art Museum, Mosaics, St. Louis Artist Guild, 2008 Gallery St Louis, Soulard Art Gallery, Gateway Gallery, Florissant Valley CC, Mereamec CC, St. Charles CC, The Foundry in St. Charles and Framations Art Gallery.
￿You don't make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.￿
￿ Ansel Adams

See my other website for additional images www.a-good-eye.com