It was Saturday evening, there was supposed to be a E2 mini-gathering in Oakland for the seven courses of beef, but the restaurant was catering something else and closed. I was up in San Francisco anyways wondering if Ouroboros would give me a call to meet up and have a micro-gathering...
Walking about Pier 39 I saw a new gallery that I hadn't seen before...
Peter Lik was born in 1959 (
Capricorn, with Scorpio Moon rising)
in
Melbourne,
Australia. Today, he is a reasonably well known, self-taught photographer specializing in panoramic
landscapes. He originally worked with a 35mm camera (his first camera he received at age 8). It has taken a few years to become a
professional photographer and a few careers (including
teaching and
gardening). However, during a trip to
Alaska in the early 1990's, he discovered the 6x17
medium format panoramic aspect.
The discovery of the possibilities presented with the panoramic medium format camera came when another photographer loaned him the camera just to see how he liked it. Upon returning to Australia he was determined to pursue a career in photography, sold his van and bought the camera (the Fuji GX617 camera body costs on the order of $2,500 USD - each lens costs another $2,500). He typically shoots with Fuji Velvia film
which is known for its saturated color and beautiful greens (this becomes
very apparent when looking at the photographs he has taken in lush wooded areas).
Since becoming a professional photographer, Peter Lik has opened a
several galleries:
The Panoramic photographs are printed in three sizes:
- 500mm x 170mm (20" x 7")
- 1000mm x 350mm (40" x 14")
- 1500mm x 500mm (60" x 20")
Stop there for a moment and realize that 60" is 5 feet - these prints
are not small.
While the price range for the limited edition prints on Ilfochrome paper is typically a subject to a bit of sticker shock, there are a large number of photographs in books and posters (posters printed at the medium size). Book titles and subjects follow:
http://www.peterlik.com/
http://www.cairnsconnect.com/peterlik/