Although he has been "taking pictures" since his Cub Scout days, Richard Knepp says he didn't start "making photographs" until 1989. Since then, every spare moment has been spent in the pursuit of the photograph as fine art.

Born in Oakland, California and raised in the greater Bay Area, Rick began his association with photography while in search of a merit badge at the scout troop in Hayward. A casual interest continued through his education in journalism at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and on into his adult life, where he recorded the growth of his two sons and his love of the out-of-doors. In an attempt to escape the "siren call" of the refrigerator during a 1989 diet, he enrolled in his first black-and-white printing class, taught by artists/educators Geir and Kate Jordahl. The pair's love of the medium proved infectious. A number of other classes followed, and Knepp now considers them close friends as well as mentors.

His career track in broadcasting and management took a significant detour following his immersion in photography, and his discovery of the mystery and beauty of California's Eastern Sierra. He moved to "The East Side" in 1992, spending four-plus years with the Mono Lake Committee, a grassroots environmental organization dedicated to protecting and restoring that threatened inland sea, and another three as owner of a nature-oriented gift, book and music shop in Mammoth Lakes. In 1999, Rick relocated to the coast to accept a position as director at the Weston Gallery in Carmel, one of the top fine art photography galleries in the world. He recently joined the staff of the Photography department at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, where he helps students hone their printing skills, and manages the photo lab and its staff.

Rick has explored color transparency, infrared and zone system image making and printing.  Working primarily with a 4x5 field camera, his first love remains the black-and-white study of the land. He has studied with master printers John Sexton and Jim Stimson, teaches photography and darkroom techniques, and directs and assists at workshops around the Pacific Southwest. His work has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions (click to view Rick's curriculum vitae), and is represented in public and private collections throughout the West. A grant from the Mono County Arts Council led to the exhibition Land and Sky Unseen: An infrared portrait of the Mono Basin.

Artist's Statement

"I find before my camera, more often than not, the beauty of what Ansel Adams referred to as 'the Natural Scene' in its grandeur, intimate detail and moments of quiet reverie. For me, however, a vital work speaks more to experience rather than to subject, and is intensely personal: transcending the obvious visual record to become physical evidence of a moment of personal discovery. Should the viewer find something in an image that reaches beyond the document into the realm of emotion, I am given the opportunity to revisit that moment - to rediscover, with new perspective."

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All Photos Copyright © 2000 Richard Knepp, All Rights Reserved