Interview with photographer David Foster

What was your first experience with art?
In my early years in school, I discovered no natural ability to draw or paint, which seemed to eliminate 'artist' from my menu of paths to pursue. Though I have been involved in photography in varying degrees for the past 40 years, it has only been in the past few years that I have come to see myself as an artist.

What is your favorite medium & why?
I am a photographer, now using digital exclusively. While I enjoyed the experience of 'wet' photography and working in the darkroom, I enjoy both the practical and artistic opportunities that the digital process affords.

Have you always been an artist or is this a career change?
Most of my career was spent working in the non-profit and higher education sectors. Since 2006, I have been shifting more of my time and energy into my artistic endeavors, which are now my primary focus.

Have you ever taken classes/courses?
I have had no formal art or photography training. I have taken several workshops and seminars, and read a fair amount, absorbing insights and technical skills from other photographers along the way. I have learned mostly from experimentation and exploration.

Do you have a muse or a favorite subject to portray?
My personal and artistic passions are primarily fueled by direct experience of beautiful and magical things to be found in nature. Sometimes this they're found in my front yard, sometimes half way around the world, but I am looking for something to amaze me. Sometimes it's a small as a dewdrop in the early morning light, sometimes as grand as a mountain range or a towering waterfall. Wherever I am, I try to keep myself open to being drawn to a new discovery. Whenever it happens, I experience it as a gift.

What do you want your art to accomplish or describe?
I hope that in connecting with the images, people will experience feelings of wonder, curiosity, joy, and leavening - along with an impulse go out and explore more for themselves.

Art programs are being cut all over the nation in schools - what's your opinion on this?
Not all school art programs are created equal. I fear that some today are not much better than the ones I experienced, which may do as much harm as good in encouraging artistic creativity in children. However, I have seen many wonderful art programs in schools as well; ones that both inspire creativity and nurture skills. When these programs are cut, the learning and well being of our children are hurt and our communities are diminished.

Where is your favorite place to create? 
I find myself most often drawn to places in nature with water of one sort or another: fields covered in dew, mountains with streams and waterfalls, ocean shorelines….. I consistently experience something magical in these places that finds expression in my images.

If somebody was standing in front of one of your works, is there anything you'd want to tell them?
Two things: first, pause for a moment and allow yourself to be drawn into the image, both as a whole and in all its detail; second, though some images may seem to be manipulated, I use only the minimum amount of Photoshop needed to have the print reflect the image I experienced in the viewfinder with no artificial ingredients added.


Do you have a favorite piece you've done?  
At the risk of a cliché, it's like asking which is my favorite child.

Can you draw a perfect circle freehand? 
Not even close.