Fine Art and Stock Photography by BRIAN CLUER
Brian Cluer, Ph.D.
I have used photography extensively during my 30 year career as a scientist managing river resources across the western US. Everything from having dozens of remote time-lapse cameras tracking daily changes on the Colorado River in Grand Canyon and on the Elwha River following dam removal, to specialized aerial mapping platforms for the creation of gigabyte 3D point clouds of rivers; photography has proven to be a powerful aid in understanding how the earth works and what conservation measures are effective.
Although I have enjoyed landscape photography for 30+ years, it was only in the last decade with the introduction of high resolution DSLRs and large format digital printing services that my artistic interests in photography took off. Later trips to Africa spending time with beautiful animals on safari fully solidified my desire to pursue artistic photography.
My unique aerial images have won a place in the national juried show at Marin MOCA 2016, judged by Brian Gross, and won two places in the regional juried show at Sebastopol Center for the Arts 2016. I have also shown prints of African people and animals in a large multi-piece show at the Graton Gallery CA in 2015. My wildlife and landscape works are now represented by Gallerique, an online and brick and mortar gallery in Chicago
My aerial landscape collection is represented exclusively by OverflightStock.
I have ongoing aerial photography displays at the Riverfront Galley in Petaluma, and large varied collections at Macs Kosher Deli Café in Santa Rosa. Follow my exhibitions, events and posts by visiting Brian Cluer Photography on Face Book, Flickr and my website.
I bring to artistic landscapes my scientific understanding of the earth processes that formed the scene, enriching the viewer's experience and appreciation of place and time. Air photos of landscapes reveal patterns and textures that a low elevation land view simply can't. Adding another dimension allows abstract qualities of the landscape to draw viewers into places that they may know well but have never seen in this way before. Air photos can evoke the microscopic patterns of bacteria growing in a petri dish rather than that of grassy alluvial fans impinging on a desert playa that are the reality. Many of my pieces play games with perception of depth and space when viewed upside down or sideways leading to questions like which way is up?, or what is the scale?