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Daniel W. Coburn of Topeka presented the program at the Emporia Camera Club’s annual dinner this evening at Emporia State University.
His photos of the Kansas landscape have always wowed me. I mean, take a look at his Silver Portfolio. Those are my favorites and many of those are in his book: Between Earth and Sky.
Dave, who is the president of the Emporia Camera Club, has long admired Dan’s work, so when it came time to select a presenter for tonight’s event, Dave contacted Dan Coburn. And tonight’s program was a hit.
For Coburn, “Photography leans more toward artistic interpretation than it does documentation.” He sees himself more as a painter than a photographer.
Coburn prefers black-and-white photography (view his Gallery). “When it comes to light in the clouds, that’s a magical thing. I’m always looking at the sky.”
“I really am in love with the sky in Kansas,” he said. And he’s not even a native Kansan – he moved here from Southern California when he was 16.
“The great thing about Kansas is that the color palette is constantly changing. You can go out two weeks later and the colors are completely different.
Not long ago, Coburn quit his day job as a graphic artist in Topeka and is now a full-time artist and is finishing his BFA degree at Washburn University. Coburn received a 2008 Kansas Mid-Career Artist Fellowship Award from the Kansas Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Paul McKnab visits with Coburn after the presentation.
He brought one of his black-and-white prints. He shot this view of the Kansas Turnpike from an overpass a ways south of Emporia.
You can also see Daniel’s work on his MySpace page.
(P.S. Yes, yes, I’m an amateur photographer with a point-and-shoot camera in a room with bad lighting taking photos of a top-notch photographer. Argh.)
Dan’s work sends chills and warm fuzzies simultaneously. He does beautiful work that requires the EYE.
Terrific work——I loved loved his ” Silver Portfolio” when you look at those pictures——-you feel like you have been to everyone of those places—& you have those places saved in your mind—as some of your “favorite places” you go to when you need an escape—-but he captured them & saved them—-awesome!!!!!! Totally awesome!!!!!!
Oh. Wow. Look out Ansel Adams! (Okay, yes, I know he’s dead.)
I think I may have seen some of Daniel Coburns work before. Did you write another post about him? If I did, I didn’t see the Silver Portfolio. Who would’ve thought sunflowers would look so great in black and white? Absolutely incredible.