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About Jim Livingston
Photo by Nancy Smith
“Are you a photographer or are you an artist?”
When my friend Lightnin’ McDuff asked me that question, I realized I had never considered the difference.
I don't consider myself a photographer, per say. Yes, I use a camera and very few days happen that I don't do photography. But in 2017 Lightnin McDuff (his real name and I have seen his driver's license) really helped me understand what is different about my photography and the way I approach it.
I was complaining to him that I hated introducing myself as a photographer. Immediately when I did so, people would pepper me with how much I charged for senior portraits or weddings or the things most associate with local photographers. I did none of that and in fact really go out of my way to avoid such things.
What I did were art images. Be it a sweeping landscape of the storms on the plains of my home, or some small image of part of a graffiti in a back alley, I tried hard to use my camera to make something worthy to be on the wall.
Lightning helped me realize, that I am an artist first, photographer 2nd. He said that I was not in fact a photographer in the sense I thought about it. But rather I was an artist who used a camera and computer to make art.
As I pondered what he was saying, I realized something. I have been a technically competent photographer for many years. Since I was 14 really, I knew how to work a camera to show you exactly what I saw. Showing people what I see with my eyes stopped mattering to me. At some point, how what I saw made me feel was what I was trying to convey in my images.
I think many of the photographers I love, and respect are more like the big game trophy hunters. They want to go out, find that once in a lifetime scene or event and capture it with the camera. And they do it over and over again marvelously. In fact, you hear that a lot from photographers: "great capture".
In the careers I worked before photography and because of life events in general, I became a cynic. When you work in the ugly parts of life (legal or social work) you come to expect life to be ugly or at least I did. You become numb to the beautiful in life, almost don't believe it exists. It is easy to become hyper focused on the ugly because in those fields after all it is your job expect it and catch it before it happens.
When I pick up my camera, something magical happens. I get to choose what I focus on, and my view finder becomes my magic window. I realized I could reframe my world. And the healing began.
In all the photos you will find on my website or at an art show, my goal isn't to show you what I saw. My goal is to show you what I felt. Some photos I do that better than others. But in each image, I am trying to capture what it is that I felt as I looked upon that scene. I do that when I frame the image with my camera but also in the editing process which to me is at least half or more of the art in my photography. When I started out in 2008 doing photography more as a hobby, there was no intention to show others, but rather it was a way for me to see the world anew with any sort of conscious effort on my part as it felt I was just doing what I enjoyed.
When I started showing my work, I was shocked that people resonated with it and even more shocked when people asked to buy prints. Since then, I have been invited to do 41 solo gallery showings of my work. I have even been featured in a few museums. Over 100 places of business from Chicago to Los Angelos have used my work for they decor, including some major businesses like hospitals, news stations, clinics, hotels and airports.
I invite you to examine your heart as you look at the images here and see if in the image, you experience an emotional response. Maybe, the art of the photograph can help you to see the world.
Come along for the ride by subscribing to Jim's News Letter!
Here are links to different things written about him around the web in no particular order.
Jim Livingston’s Texas Panhandle
"The Healing Canyon" by Jim Livingston
Local photographer helps the community define identity
New Art On Display at Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport
Amarillo photo artist Livingston’s collection featured at Airport Art Wall
Portraits of the Healing Canyon
Amarillo photographer documents his love of Palo Duro in a new show
Photo artist draws healing, inspiration from canyon
Working together in the Panhandle Spirit
Landscape photographer finds the road home
A Moment with Ziggy Joined By Jim Livingston
Jim Livingston – Finding Light in the Darkness
Amarillo College Current Spring 2014
Photographer’s reception will include free portrait sessions
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This means you can use the camera on your phone or tablet and superimpose any piece of art onto a wall inside of your home or business.
To use this feature, Just look for the "Live Preview AR" button when viewing any piece of art on this website!
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