Artist of the Month

October 2009

Lee Peterson

San Diego, CA

As an artist Lee Peterson prefers to be inconspicuous and let his images speak for him. Yet he stands out in a crowd and seemed more alive and aware, more keenly focused, than others around him.

His images overwhelmed many viewers. The images would catch the viewer off guard. The depth and clarity, sometimes the ambiguous tones and subjects communicate eloquently to an inner eye and leave an imprint in the mind. The photographs are like a fingerprint of his deep innermost feelings and attachment to the world around him. He transformed the obvious into an emotion. The order of the day dictated by the surroundings. He approached it childlike, like an impractical dreamer but with the efficiency of a disciplined craftsman. Captured on film the final print is a careful adjustment to fit the emotion he felt at the time of the event. It is an outpouring of emotion and perception. The final form, the print, is presented to the viewers to question and reflect on their own experiences and desires.

On land or beneath the sea his images surround the viewer with new and unique perceptions and feelings for nature as well as ones own emotional connection to a visible world sometimes over looked as we hurry about or daily lives.

“As any form of art, Photography has two major aspects: the Tangible-Technical skill, and the intangible- the mind and ability to visualize. Very few photographers today have mastered in both aspects. Lee Peterson is on of them. Lee is a scientist, an artist, and more importantly, a perfectionist and a dreamer who has dedicate his life to photography. Lee’s unique vision is spiritual and personal. His subtle but powerful images reveal what we see but never thought, and recognize as the truth. He has also demonstrated in his work his exceptional sensibility to read light. In his CD-ROM book, Liquid Light” the images speak to me of natural harmony that flow smoothly and freely, revealing Yin and Yang, music to the soul, the truth and Tao.”

Steve Lu, Hong Kong 1998

TAL: How and when did you start creating art?

LP : I was in junior high school and began in 1954 taking pictures of model airplanes with a 2x3 sheet film camera.

TAL: What media and genres do you work in?

LP :

All forms of photography and film and video. Metal sculpture and leather art.

TAL: Who or what are your influences?

LP : In photography, my friend Bret Weston.

TAL: What was your inspiration for ""?

LP : My journey in life begins and ends in some kind of a circle.

TAL: Describe your creative process.

LP :

I select quantum relationships in graphic patterns as they move in and out of time relationships giving right and left-brain functions to find harmony.

TAL: What are you working on currently?

LP :

The genetic pattern recognition we were born with and override with illusion and perception.

TAL: What are your near/long term goals as an artist?

LP : To be able to see beyond consciousness.

TAL: Where can people view/purchase your work?

LP :

http://arnaudinternational.com

Danièle Arnaud, 760.419.8957

http://www.leepetersonphotography.com/Global/

www.leepetersonphotography.com

San Diego Photodistrict, 11717 Sorrento Valley Road, San Diego, Ca 92121