My journey began as a child when I picked up my father's "Voightlander", Twin Lens Reflex Camera, which used 12 exposure, 120 roll film.  I won't tell you how many years ago that was, but it was more than a few.  

 

I didn't realize it at the time, but by being behind the camera I was capturing a moment, a moment that will never be seen exactly the same way again.

 

Finally retiring, after a lifetime of international business travel, always with a camera hanging around my neck, I am able to concentrate on my lifelong love of photography.  At first, I was trying to capture the moment with simple snapshots, then gradually those snapshots became more sophisticated and my work was no longer a picture a group in front of a giant edifice where you could barely see the people.

​

I found that I wanted to create, as opposed to just snapping a picture.  However, the response from family and friends was, “Why would you take a picture of that?”  Although I did not realize it at the time, I guess I was on the right track.  The less they understood, the more I liked what I did. 

 

There are times I will sit for hours waiting for the circumstances, or the lighting to be just right to capture an image the way I want it to be.  As the saying goes, “Photography is not a team sport”.

​

I read, I looked, I learned, I studied the works of different artists and tried to develop my own style. This is not something you learn overnight, or in a one-day seminar. It takes time and patience.  It means making mistakes and throwing away thousands of pictures, it means, becoming your own worst critic, because, if you cannot criticize your own work, or accept criticism from others, then, my friend, you will never learn.

​

Having headed my own companies and being in the corporate world, I never had the time to pursue my work the way I wanted.  Now I have the time to follow my passion.  However, if you think I am still not learning, you are sadly mistaken.  One never stops learning.  I believe, “If you don’t learn something new every day, or couple of days, then, you’re wasting your life”.

​

The world of photography has changed in the digital age. Fine photography is no longer just snapping a picture, or taking a selfie, it is, knowing when, how and why to click that shutter.  Yet, that is only the beginning.  Once you have achieved step one, the next step, is knowing what to do with it in post processing.

​

I hope you enjoy and will purchase my simple work.  The greatest gratification I can have is that someone else enjoys it enough to buy it and hang it on their wall..

​

Bearj Alex Bahtiarian