Stephen Guenther
My first camera came at a very young age, just noting that is was a Mickey Mouse camera says it all. One day I borrowed my older brother’s 35mm Pentax, now I experienced the ability to see through the lens which was both a discovery and a joy. This was my first touch of photographic magic, yet more of a hobby than a fully formed passion at the age of 16. It was while in my senior year of my undergraduate education (visual psychology) when I joined a friend working in the darkroom on a project in Architecture, that the full weight of photography connected. The magic of the obfuscated image in the developing tray coming to life from a latent image was the permanent connection.
My formal education in photography began at the Center for Photographic Studies where my first teacher was C.J. Pressma, himself a protégé of Henry Holmes Smith and Minor White, it was a profound and lasting experience. After that my professional development led to a Masters in Fine Art Photography, follow by a 30 year vocational career in graphic design, art direction and finally the role of Design Director. With 40+ years of Photography under my belt, I remain committed to explore, to learn and to help others find their path to self-expression and documentation via photography. My newest body of work entitled SUISEKI | Zen Water, is a project with a direct connection to not only my love of Japanese design and tradition, but also to the work of Minor White who was a Zen practitioner in both his photography and his life.
“ A sequence of photographs is like a cinema of stills. The time and space between photographs is filled by the beholder, first of all from himself, then from what he can read in the implications of design, the suggestions springing from treatment and any symbolism that might grow from within the subject itself. – Minor White “Mirrors, Messages, Manifestations” by Minor White, Millerton, New York: Aperture, 1969
Email: stephen.guenther@gmail.com
Website: https://stephenguenther.com
Shop Evanston Made: Stephen Guenther