Brian Killigrew

The word photography comes from the Greek (phos-graphi) and means light writing. Light is what makes photography possible.

When I see something that excites me visually, I set up my camera and look through the ground glass, visualizing the scene not how it appears, but how I want it to appear on paper. Visualizing how I want the print to appear dictates how I will expose my film to light. It is the information in the negative that is my syntax, to make my final statement—the print.

If a print cannot match the intensity the photographer felt when he made the image, the work fails. A fine print should say everything and look effortless.  

In the darkroom, when I am printing an image that is successful in translating something magical onto paper—I am as happy as a person can be. It is the synergy of photographing and printing that makes photography so special to me.

Passion is a very important part of the creative process. Talent without passion leaves a void. Passion without talent has no foundation. It is when talent, passion and technical ability meet, that a symphony of beauty and inspiration can be created.

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Brian’s work has been exhibited in numerous galleries, and his work has been published in magazines world-wide, including Black and White Magazine, Photovision, View Camera, and LensWork. He recently had a one-person show at the Open Shutter Gallery in Durango, and his work is in the permanent collection of The Durango and Silverton NGRR. All prints are handmade in a real Darkroom. No digital anything.