PMPN Student Photography Gallery: Luke Swenson - A High School Photography Student With an Eye and a Plan

The Portland Metro Photographic News is proud to display the work of 17-year old, Luke Swenson of Vancouver, Washington. Luke is a senior at Mountain View High School and an aspiring student photographer with a photographic maturity beyond his years and a plan for his future.

Like most photographers, Luke (shown at right) has his own unique story about his photographic beginnings.

"What initially got me interested in photography were my encounters with an 87-year-old, ex-Life magazine photographer: Elmar Gist. After meeting Mr. Gist I began to visit him weekly on Saturday’s, sitting beside him on his comfy, cream colored couch; finding myself entangled in his vivid stories and depictions of a life that seemed far away from myself and the small town of Vancouver, Washington.

A life insurance salesman for 39 years, and a professional photographer of 18 years, Elmar began to mentor me and teach me in the ways of photography, at a time when I was most susceptible to the influence of others. When leaving to go home each Saturday evening after our visits, I would be filled with a sense of purpose and would suddenly feel as though all my unanswered questions had disappeared.

Editor's Note: Elmar Gist (shown at left) passed away at the age of 88 on September 27, 2009. Read more about his life here.

Luke is always on the move. Today I work three different jobs; attending high school classes, working 3-4 days a week at the local camera shop, Knights Camera, and all the while keeping up with my photographic career and making time to have my work shown/exhibited anywhere with a blank wall around town. At Knights Camera, I am a sales clerk and also run the photo restoration part of the store. This training and experience working at Knight’s has made me quite well versed in film photography, digital photography, and Photoshop.

However, for my personal photography, I stick to film, and use Photoshop only to remove dust from my images and to color correct/contrast them to the way I have printed them in the darkroom. The bulk of my photos are hand processed, black and white images taken with either my Hasselblad 500CM or my Leica M2. Although I primarily shoot in black and white, my work also includes a variety of other alternative processes including color, Polaroid transfers and lifts, Cyanotypes and Solarized prints. For me it is more than just the final outcome of the image, but the manual process that I love. Nothing is more enjoyable for me than spending hours in the darkroom dodging, burning and printing. "

I would like to thank my dear friend Elmar, my photo teacher Mr. Richard Ray, my family and friends, and my fellow employees at Knights Camera, who have continued to support my artwork and me. After graduating from high school this coming June, I plan on moving to Brooklyn, New York to start college at Pratt Institute, where I hope to gain my BFA in Photography with an emphasis in Writing, and then move abroad to begin my life’s adventure. -- Luke Swenson

It was Luke's teacher, Richard Ray, at Mountain View High School who first brought Luke to our attention. Every photography teacher has students whose growth in the craft is their source of pride and motivation in their teaching profession.

Luke has been a photo student of mine for six semesters, starting with film photography and now, grudgingly, involving himself with digital imaging. His passion remains with silver-based photography. His darkroom work excels simply because he’s willing to spend the time to understand how and why things change when using various papers, chemicals, and toners. His current intention is to teach photography; he is considering attending either Pratt Institute or the School of the Art Institute of Chicago when he graduates from Mountain View at the end of this school year.

The thing that amuses me most about his excitement about photography has to be his lack of fear in approaching a new subject, whether it be people, landscape, or cityscape. He openly addresses people in areas outside his comfort zone, explaining his wishes, asking permission to photograph, and then making sure to mail copies of images to his subjects. Everything is fair game for his lens, whether shooting pinhole or medium format. For this student, time is simply a matter of shutter speeds. -- Richard Ray, Mountain View High School.

Welcome to PMPN's Student Gallery and the Imagery of Luke Swenson