Location: United States
Stuart Gordon is a nature and travel photographer based in Oregon, USA. His landscape, wildlife and travel images appear in magazines, books, corporate offices and the homes of collectors of fine art photography.
"For me, photography is about being a participant, rather than merely an observer, in a singular and unrepeatable moment when light, weather, location and subject combine to produce an extraordinary scene," Gordon said.
What has always attracted me to photography is that it provides a means to share your unique vision of the world as well as trains your eyes and brain to find the extraordinary in the ordinary. Driven To Abstraction is a collection of my photographic images which best reveal the hidden beauty in objects and scenes that most of us would ordinarily pass up or ignore without a second glance. With a camera in my hand, I can drill down to find the essence of my personal vision of something as ordinary as a reed in a pond, a forest scorched by a wildfire, or rusted metal, until I can find and convey the underlying hidden beauty of the object. I'm not saying it isn't challenging. Nor am I saying that it doesn't require practice. But I am saying that it is immensely rewarding, because what you get to share is intimately personal and transcendent.
Reeds silhouetted in a pond along with their reflection on the water's surface in central Oregon. Although they were nothing more than reeds, when I looked close up through my camera lens, I saw elegance, grace and wonder. That is also what I hoped this image would convey. Black & White digital photograph.
A conifer forest near the top of Santiam Pass in the Mt. Washington Wilderness of Oregon that was burned in a wildfire takes on a stark beauty against newly fallen snow. Black & White digital photograph.
Sunlight refracted through "sea foam" left behind on the shoreline by the tide at Cannon Beach, Oregon, USA.
Detail of the leaves of corydalis, a wild plant I found growing along a hiking trail in Oswald West State Park along the Oregon coast, USA.
A granite shelf worn smooth by the incessant tide of the Pacific Ocean at Point Lobos State Reserve, Carmel, California.
This was the flat surface of a slab of rock on which I rested my camera bag while I took photos nearby near Wire Pass, on the Utah-Arizona border. Then, as I lifted my pack to put my camera bag back, I realized what a beautiful subject the rock itself made. I believe it's a slab of rose quartz with some fine particles of red desert sand scattered on top.
I almost passed this one by without giving it a second glance. Then I thought better of it and whirled around to see if I was perhpas guilty of looking without seeing. Rusted corrugated metal.
Rusted corrugated sheet metal, Patagonia, Chile.
Reeds silhouetted in Lake Siskiyou, Mt. Shasta, California, USA.
A dense thicket of willow branches growing on the shoreline of a reservoir in central Oregon, USA.
A dense thicket of alders forms a natural arabesque along the Nehalem River, Nehalem, Oregon, USA.
The peeling paint on this weathered outdoor shed door took on a myriad of compositions as I pondered where to aim my lens.
The peeling paint on this weathered outdoor shed door took on a myriad of compositions as I pondered where to aim my lens.
The peeling paint on this weathered outdoor shed door took on a myriad of compositions as I pondered where to aim my lens.
The peeling paint on this weathered outdoor shed door took on a myriad of compositions as I pondered where to aim my lens.
I almost passed this one by without giving it a second glance. Then I thought better of it and whirled around to see if I was perhpas guilty of looking without seeing. Rusted corrugated metal.
I almost passed this one by without giving it a second glance. Then I thought better of it and whirled around to see if I was perhpas guilty of looking without seeing. Rusted corrugated metal.
Colorful liqueurs in a distillery storefront, Innsbruck, Austria.
Part of a national monument in remote eastern Oregon, the "Painted Hills" are a geologic wonder resulting from a combination of volcanic activity and climate change over millions of years.
Building facade, downtown Christchurch, New Zealand.
Celebrating the diversity of life around the world.There is something both exhilarating and frightening when making eye contact with an animal in the wild. That is clearly their turf, and you are the intruder.That is especially true when they, not you, are at the top of the food chain. But even when the creature is not a predator, the thrill of being acknowledged by another species like that – be it an oryx on the plains of Namibia's red desert, or a three-toed sloth in a rainforest canopy in Costa Rica – is nothing short of awe-inspiring.
A sea eagle on the hunt in a fjord of Norway.
Oryx, an antelope of the Namibian desert, relax in a group in Namib-Naukluft National Park.
A procession of orxy, an antelope of the Namibian desert heading for high ground in Namib-Naukluft National Park, Namibia.
“Reed Study 1”
“Scorched Earth”
“Gems of the Sea”
“Spring Green”
“Tidal Abstract”
“Deep Looking Required”
“Rust Study 1”
“Rust Study 2”
“Reed Study 2”
“Thicket of Willows”
“Thicket of Alders”
“Peeling Paint Abstract 1”
“Peeling Paint Abstract 2”
“Peeling Paint Abstract 3”
“Peeling Paint Abstract 4”
“Rust Study 3”
“Rust Study 4”
“High Proof Color”
“Painted Hills”
“Pattern Study 1”
“Sea Eagle in Flight”
“Gathering of Oryx”
“Follow The Leader”
