Portfolio: Paul Carew, Exploring The West

Artist’s Statement

By Paul Carew

My art training began at Greenfield Community College, located in the beautiful rolling hills of Western Massachusetts, where I lived and earned an Associate degree in graphic design. While there, a major influence leading to my eventual move toward photography as my main focus was the multi-talented artist / professor and mentor Christopher James. James and I discussed at length the possibility of continuing my education at the Cooper Union School in New York City, the idea of being able to concentrate on photography, without all the other interruptions, politely referred to as credit requirements for graduation, was attractive. Being a countryboy at heart, I later chose instead to move to Boston and attend the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, where I achieved a Bachelor of Arts degree in photography in 1976. While there, I studied under guys like Nicholas Nixon and Roy Ditosti, a couple of major shooters at the time. Of course, there where also the mainstream influences such as Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Minor White, Diane Arbus, Dorothea Lange and my all-time favorite, Walker Evens, just to name a few.

Fast forward, it’s July of 2006, I retired after 25 years of service as a staff photographer and imaging technician with the Photographic Services department at the University of Massachusetts, in Amherst, Ma. There, my duties included a wide variety of photographic tasks and skills that included, custom black and white printing, studio lighting, covering all campus events, copy work, color printing and film processing, working one on one with various faculty researchers and art professors.

Following a lifelong goal and strong desire to someday live in the west, I packed up my belongings in the back of my pickup truck and headed west, which brought me to my present day residence here in Bend and the beautiful high deserts of Central Oregon.

As an avid hiker and backpacker, I spend much of my time exploring and photographing the wilds of Oregon’s glorious backcountry, from high scenic passes, remote hidden meadows, to cascading mountain rivers and deep canyon creeks. On a rare occasion, I will attend local sporting events or festival, but my heart and photographic passion truly belongs to the landscapes of Oregon’s wild places, life is good!
Equipment I use

Cameras, Nikon, full frame, models D810 and D700. Typical lenses I carry are, Tamron SP 15-30mm f/2.8, Nikkor 60mm Macro f/2.8 and a Nikkor 80-400mm, f/4.5-5.6 VR zoom. ND filters, .9, 1.8 and 3.0