ABOUT THE ARTIST
I find it difficult to fill this space with nice things about myself. So rather that bore you with a long list of details, I'll keep it short, and instead express my philosophical point of view about this art form that has consumed the better part of my life.

I did not always want to be a photographer. Before I came to know the camera I was sure I would spend my life as a painter. My parents seeing my passion for painting enrolled me in art classes at a young age. There my mentors were all much older than me, and I loved it.

I enlisted in the navy to avoid the draft and that brought four and a half years of art school to an end. Soon though, a new love came into my life, Photography. I bought my first good 35mm camera in the navy and set about learning everything I could about the craft of the silver image. I got to see a good part of the world at Uncle Sam's' expense, and I made pictures of it all.

In 1972 I enrolled at the Rhode Island School of Photography where the focus was on the business of photography. Upon graduation I embarked on a photographic career that has been filled with many interesting twists and turns, but has never failed to interest or challenge me.

Today I divide my time between my studio, Light Impressions Photography and Design, Traveling, and as a member of the faculty at "Gibbs College", and the CE faculty at "The Rhode Island School of Design." I teach Computer Graphics (PhotoShop) Photography,and Digital Photography at both institutions.

Without ART there would be no culture. I truly believe that. The language of the image in all art forms and communications since the beginning of recorded history is second only to the spoken word in age, and both are far older than the written word, finishing a distant third. So it is no surprise to me that we as humans have such an affinity for images, and an insatiable appetite for them.

I also believe that when a photographer makes a photograph, that the image does not only reveal the essence and the sole of the subject, but at the same time the photographer also tells as much about himself.

There is no time in my life to argue or debate with those who would claim that photography is not an art form. This has always been an argument put forward by narrow minds. To think that what is or is not Art can be defined by the material or hardware used to create it is ridiculous. I have heard the rumbling of this old and worn out argument resurrected again. This time the attack is aimed at Art produced in part or completely within an electronic environment, the computer. Art is the sole domain of the mind that created it and NOT the medium used to create it.

Technology today has placed in our hands the tools that allow us to realize our most profound creative ambitions. It will be the artist, not the engineer that will test the limits of this new technology, for it is they that will use it for a purpose, and in a way for which it was never intended.

If you have any comments or suggestions, please feel free to use the contact form to respond.

Sincerely,

David P. Fleurant

GALLERY