The Artists of Sixth Street Gallery
back to artist listings

name: Raymond Klein media: digital photography more: email Raymond “Visions Of Light” Artists statement Authors write with pen and ink, or keyboards and computer programs to tell the story as they imagine it to be. Photographers write with light. It can be sunlight, incandescent, fluorescent, or flash.   The camera they use is basically a light-tight box with an aperture controlling the amount of light flowing through the lens, while the shutter controls the length of time the film or sensor is exposed to the light. Proper exposure always delivers a pleasant sensation when viewing an image.   Most photographers make pictures by focusing their cameras on scenes and subjects they find interesting and beautiful in the environment around them. There are other creative dimensions that I, personally, wanted to explore. These have to do with points of light that can be envisioned beyond the everyday scenes that we encounter in our daily lives. These ideas spring from mental images of color, light, shape, and motion. They are inspired by words like Iridescence, luminous, and radiance and are brought to reality through the imaginative power of the photographer. My exhibit “Visions Of Light” focuses on the point sources of light that are used to illuminate subjects but infrequently seen in pictures themselves. The images are created when light passes through various shaped apertures and different colors applied to the sources. The camera is then used in multi exposure mode to change sizes of the captured images. The overlapping of the exposures on film create intriguing color combinations. To turn my images into viewable art, I decided to use pigment inks on canvas, after making several photo paper prints that are framed with glass. The pigment inks are rich in color, especially on glossy canvas. The pigment inks last much longer and are less subject to fading. There are also coatings that may be applied to the canvas after printing, which I have done, to further increase the life of the image. The coating also decreases the chance of abrasions if the piece is mishandled. A large canvas on a stretcher frame is light and easy to hang. There is no heavy glass or expensive acrylic to mess with. The canvas wrapped around the stretcher frame is called a “gallery wrap.” This also eliminates the need for a heavy frame. In the event someone wants to frame the piece later that option is open to them. Read Raymond's Bio

Raymond Klein Biography

Born in Milwaukee Wisconsin, September 20, 1932, attended Grade school and High school in MIlwaukee. Our High school, Rufus King High, was quite progressive and had dark rooms and press type cameras and flash equipment to photograph High school events. One of my teachers encouraged me to become a staff member of the regular photo team.

A summer job, after graduation, put me into a photofinishing operation. There I learned how to machine process film and print pictures on a mass basis.

Our local news paper, The Milwaukee Journal, had a section in the Sunday news paper where they requested “Pictures From Readers.” This presented me with an opportunity to get my finest pictures, at the time, to be published and receive money and a little publicity for my efforts.

Instead of going to college I wanted to go directly to a school of photography. I found one in California called “The Fred Archer School of Photography.” I applied and was accepted. The year was 1951.

I received my draft notice in December of that year. I decided to enlist in the U.S. Airforce, after learning a photo unit was being formed to document Airforce activities. In that setting I learned to operate just about every camera that was in existence at the time, including motion picture cameras. The Airforce service experience provided many assignments for me to increase my photography skills. I won a First and Third place with two of my photos in an Air Force photo contest sponsored by “The Commander Military Air Transport Service” in early January 1956. I was honorably discharged in late January 1956. the base I was stationed at was in Orlando Florida.

I stayed in Florida and worked a few odd jobs for a short time. One of my first big jobs happened when I saw an advertisement in the Sunday papers for motion picture camera operators at Cape Canaveral Florida. The Optics Division at the cape was in need of operators to film the various rocket launches at the time. I applied and was hired. I had to train for about a month during which time my background was checked in order to get a “secret clearance,” required at the time to work at the cape. The Redstone Rockets and the Boeing Company had several test vehicles being launched at the time. the Redstone Rocket was successful in placing the U.S. first satellite in orbit.

I worked there for about a year and a half when another opportunity presented itself. The Glen Martin Aircraft Company was building a plant just outside of Orlando. The year was 1957. There was an Ad in the local Sunday paper asking for motion picture camera operators to document various activities taking place at the Martin Orlando Company. I took a day off from the Optics Division and interviewed at the Martin Co. and was hired on the spot with an increase in the salary.

I worked on many interesting assignments the following year. I also produced still pictures while on my regular motion picture assignments. I was asked to work on a special project called “The Engineer at Martin Orlando”, to be used for advertising purposes to attract additional engineers to come to work at the Orlando facility. The pictures would run in various national magazines at the time. The person I was working with, the Writer, told me he thought I should be working at an advertising agency or at some place where I could receive representation to advertising agencies. One of the many photographs I accomplished on this assignment would become a “pivotal image” in the following years. It was an image of an engineer working with a large machine that moved simulating movement in space. I requested small lights be attached to the machine to record the movement. This picture received quite a bit of attention later when displayed at meetings with Chicago Ad Agencies.

In November of 1958 I took a week vacation and returned to my parents home in MIlwaukee WI. During that week, with my portfolio of nationally published images from the Martin Company tucked in my brief case, I made the rounds of various “commercial” studios and Ad agencies in Chicago. By mid week I had a firm job offer from a Commercial Photo Studio in downtown Chicago, with another nice increase in salary.

In 1965 I married and also received an opportunity to join a studio that offered a long time employment situation. It was at this studio that I would be able to explore the complete range of fulfilling photography interests. The time went by so quickly that I received my 25 year gift in 1990. It was at this studio that a variety of experimental photographs, with large 8X10 and 11X14 view cameras, (the kind of cameras you usually associate with Matthew Brady of Civil war fame), that I was able to develop skills which would lead to images worthy of calling “Art.”

My greatest experimental work was accomplished for a client called “Dynascan.” This company produced telephones and electronic equipment. They liked unusual perspectives, dramatic lighting, and special effects to enhance their products. It was with this client that I began producing the experimental light patterns that would be used in their advertising campaigns.

Working in Chicago also gave me an opportunity to earn a degree in photography with “The Professional Photographers of America.” I earned the degree in 1976. I only submitted my Commercial Product Photography. Several of my pieces went into the “Permanent Loan Collection.”

I retired in 1994 and moved to Vancouver WA since my daughter, a “Vet Tech” , received her first employment opportunity in this city.

During the first ten years of my retirement my interest in photography was diminishing, until the digital revolution took place. I purchased a Digital SLR (Single Lens Reflex) “Canon Rebel” with a 6.3 Mega pixel quality sensor, and began playing with it. I entered a photo contest sponsored by Popular Photography and Imaging Magazine, ( an International distributed Magazine), in late 2004 and won a 2nd place in the April 2005 contest called “Your Best Shot.” It appeared on page 20 of that issue.

I entered this same photograph into a National Awards Contest and won an award of excellence. You can see this by going to “Google” on the internet, enter my full name, (Raymond J. Klein Photographer National Awards) and you will see the photo, just follow the trail.

In 2005 I again entered a picture into the magazine (Popular Photography & Imaging) January 2006 “Annual International Contest” and won a 3rd place in the “Creative Arts” division. It was reproduced on page 81. This contest draws thousands and thousands of photographers to enter.

My wife passed away in 2006 and put my life into a holding pattern for quite a while.

Reading the Sunday news paper, mid 2007, “The Columbian Weekend and Beyond” section, I saw a “call for artists.” This piqued my interest again and I began playing with the images I had produced back in my studio days. By now I had learned how to work with the images on my computer and found I could do extraordinary things with them. I produced a portfolio of the images and submitted it to the Sixth Street Gallery in Vancouver and juried into the Gallery in August 2007. My work is on display there now on a monthly basis.

In December 2007 I juried into the Camas Public Library “Second Story Gallery” and had a month long exhibition during April 2008. I called the exhibition “Visions of LIght”. During this exhibition I sold my first large canvas image, a 24” X 30” image titled “Radiance.”

back to top

.