Artist’s Bio 

            I originally was a native of Indiana but have now settled down in MD.  I was first bitten by the Shutter Bug when I discovered a photo album in my father’s U.S. Army foot locker from his days in the Korean War and subsequent duty stations in Japan, California and elsewhere.  My father was also involved in photography during and after his time in the Army.

              The thrill of visiting exotic locations and documenting such memorable moments led me to join the U.S. Navy at the age of 20.  During my 20-year Naval career, I have been stationed in the Republic of Korea, Maryland, California and Hawaii.  I have also had the opportunity to travel to Hong Kong, Thailand, Japan, the Philippines, Guam, Mexico and across the United States on both official and personal travel, photographing many memorable sights and exotic peoples and their cultures along the way.

            I have been photographing seriously for approximately 18 years.  I gained my initial photographic knowledge through reading a lot of books and magazines on the subject as well as trial and error.  I later refined my knowledge and skills as a New York Institute of Photography’s correspondence course student.

               I cut my photographic teeth first on what I likes to call “documenting the human condition with good old fashioned street photography”.  Much of my earliest work consists of travel type images of the people and countries that I have visited in my various travels.  However, I shun choosing one set subject matter in favor of embracing all the opportunities that life presents.  Nature, wild life, event and portraiture are all subjects I still do to some degree in addition to fine art, nude, glamour and digital art.

               I ventured into using the computer for digital enhancement/manipulation and artistic creations in 1997, immediately falling in love with all the possibilities the digital world presented.  I began shooting totally digital in the fall of 2001 and print all of my work myself on an upgraded system and large format printer.  I am always experimenting with new types of papers and digital techniques.

               Lately, I experiment a great deal with digital and fantasy art on the computer.  One never knows what mundane object I’ll photograph only to utilize part or all of it for manipulation into very abstract and surreal artwork using Adobe Photoshop.

Thank you and enjoy,

Bob Jackson (A.K.A. Squidly Bob)