Gallery III — Guest Artists . . . Rick Ferens

About the Artist - Rick Ferens

Rick Ferens is a photographer, graphic Designer, and outdoor enthusiast from Kirkland, WA. He has the unique ability to capture the dramatic and powerful as well as the calm and serene aspects of Nature in his photography. The extensive time Ferens has spent in wilderness areas acquainted him with vast open spaces and intimate scenes unmarred by human development. The drama in his images of the Grand Canyon in winter, Monument Valley and Zion National Park is breathtaking, but there is also a transcendental quality to his compositions of the Paria Riffle, Badwater Basin and Snow Ghosts. This range is exceptional among contemporary photographers. The images offer vignettes into Ferens' creative perspectives, and the narrative comments from his field notes provide insights into what he saw and attempted to capture in each photograph.

A colleague, reviewing Ferens' portfolio, commented "These photos look as though they were taken by a mountain climber." Indeed, they were. For over 25 years, Ferens was an avid alpine and technical climber - completing ascents of Mt. McKinley in Alaska, El Capitan in Yosemite, plus 3,000-foot spires in the Canadian Bugaboos. In winter months he frequently took time off to go ski-mountaineering and to climb frozen waterfalls. His passion for the outdoors enabled him to experience sunrises, sunsets and storms from some of the most spectacular locations imaginable.

He has since exchanged his ice axe, ropes and chalk bag for cameras, lenses and tripods. Now, as he revisits some of his favorite sites, his goal is to capture Nature's amazing imagery for the rest of us to enjoy. Given his formal training as a graphic artist, he scouts a location and patiently waits until the composition he has envisioned presents itself to be photographed. The influence of his climbing experiences are clearly evident in the photographic subjects he chooses and style of execution, echoing the efforts of early landscape photographers who stressed the beauty and sanctity of Nature in their work.

To see more of Ferens' portfolio, we encourage you to visit his web site: www.5500DegreeStudio.com