H O M E

Gary Albertson – Fine Art Landscape Photographer

In 2010, Gary Albertson's 30-plus year career as an award winning corporate graphic designer and acclaimed, internationally collected, fine art landscape photographer seemed at its end, the result of a rare inherited disorder called pigment dispersion glaucoma. Today, with just a fraction of peripheral eyesight remaining, his deep love of nature drives him to adapt against all odds as he continues to refine his photographic art.
Gary says, “One of the gifts of blindness, especially to a photographer, is the requirement of moving much slower. It takes me much more time now to finely compose an image, to finely see it, and to stitch all of the pieces together in my head; to finally see its sense and shape and form; Oh, what a wonderful sacrifice to slow down. Just give me a hundred yards and two weeks. I do not need to go far to find beauty and to capture it, to share it with the world.”

“I started my career in photography in the late 1970s, while still doing graphic design, after working with many commercial photographers. Publication of my book, Fire Mountain: The Eruptions of Mt. St. Helens, which I designed and published, provided me the option of leaving graphic design and turning full-time to a career as a fine-art landscape photographer.

“In 1995, after suffering a near-fatal incident while doing photography in Roratonga, I was given new life in the form of a kidney transplant. I received my sister’s kidney May 18, 1996. This gave my life new purpose. I moved to a quiet spot along Oregon’s Metolius River, and concentrated on photographing it, and the surrounding valley and mountains.

“I showed my photography exclusively in a gallery in Sisters for eight years, until losing the majority of my eyesight to the pigment dispersion glaucoma in 2010. I have worked hard to retain what little eyesight remains, taking each day – one day at a time – and sharing photographs that come to me on the best of days.

“For years, I shot exclusively with a 4 x 5 film camera. It was my best friend, my constant companion. Diminishing eyesight has forced me toward the digital world. While I still shoot occasionally with the 4 x 5, I now use a Nikon D750 for about 80 percent of my work. Occasionally I use a Canon G12 – and whenever I feel strong in my vision – go back to the 4 x 5.

“I can no longer do post-production on a computer, so I rely on the expertise of close friends to help me in that regard.

“I continue to pursue my visual art, which is all about giving the world something worthwhile.”