WD: Tell us a little about your background as an artist:
BF: I was never meant to be an artist! My father clearly wanted me to follow in his footsteps to be a physician.
On the other hand, I was always interested in the visual arts- especially film. My mother and brother were always quite
artistic- my mother a sculptor and my brother sculpted and did pen and ink drawings. My uncle was involved in the film industry
in Hollywood- head of distribution for Columbia Pictures and then Tristar. While he discouraged me from getting involved in filmmaking, I never fully accepted his advice.
I started taking photos when I was a boy with my Brownie Instamatic and have continued my interest in photography throughout
my life. During my undergraduate education at Stanford I got more interested in photography under the tutelage of Leo Holub.
I took many classes and helped build their new darkroom facilities. I had some photos published in University publications and
was hired by the Alumni Magazine to shoot several events. I also started taking film classes and began making short Super-8 films.
By my junior year, I decided not to pursue a career in medicine and planned to go to film school to be a filmmaker.
Unfortunately, when I told my father of my decision, he did not take well to it and actually developed chest pain which only subsided after I graduated from medical school.
I continued to be involved in film and photography throughout my medical education and became involved with a documentary project done by the local PBS TV affiliate and continued to take photos.
Later, I took several photography seminars around the world, combining my love of travel with my interest in photography. I have now visited every continent and have a wonderful library of photographs truly from around thee world!
About 6 or 7 years ago I decided that it was not too late for me to make movies and jumped in with both feet and spent three years making my first film, a feature length documentary, "Wally", which achieved great success on the film festival circuit- playing at over 30 festivals around the world and winning several best documentary awards. When I began this project I had never owned a video camera and did not even know how to use a computer for emailing. With help from some friends and a lot of hard work and manual reading, I was able to accomplish this amazing feat. Since then I have made other short films and have been involved in the making of several successful independent films made by other filmmakers. I have worked as set photographer, actor, psychiatric consultant,
researcher, and executive producer in these projects. I continue to be heavily involved in filmmaking with several projects currently in the works.
WD: What Inspires you in your photography?:
BF: I am inspired by beauty, diversity, color, and light. My work is very eclectic as a result. Long ago, at Stanford, the great
BF: I am inspired by beauty, diversity, color, and light. My work is very eclectic as a result. Long ago, at Stanford, the great
photographer Imogen Cunningham critiqued my work and said to me, "You have a good eye and could be a good photographer, but you need to focus your scope of interest. You need to find a style and a subject matter and hone your interest." I am afraid that while her words frequently echo in my head, I have been unable to follow her advice and continue to shoot a variety of subjects. In the end
I could be called a street and travel photographer and am happy with that designation.
Bobs Photography will be at the gallery for the month of November. Please join us for an artist reception Saturday, November 19th 4pm-7pm
