Fernando Sandoval

I have had a camera around my neck since my teenage years.

My active photography didn’t really happen until high school. Schoolmates and I moved to a building previously occupied by Jesuits. In the back of the science room, there was a darkroom that had not been used in years. A little dusting here and there and voilà, with a little bit of research and help from one of our new teachers, we had a darkroom. The adventure with film for me had begun.

Majoring in Media Communications at American University, I delved into the many aspects of processing and dissemination of current events. However, I never stopped shooting stills. Motion picture weighed in heavily but I preferred the immediacy and impact of a still image. In many of the film documentaries and newsreels I had to screen and catalog at the National Archives as a film technician, I liked freezing frames to explore deeper. The Steenbeck I used, a flatbed film editor, allowed me to stop a single frame to view further. I would find that a still image could be jarring, thought provoking, eerie and beautiful all at the same time. This gave me the respect for the power of a still image that I have to this day.

Early on as a street photographer, I canvassed deserted urban neighborhoods mainly at night. The resulting images are simply graphic and stark. There are many aspects of photography that I am involved in today including digital. But the simple elegance and romantic tones of a gray scale are what I strive for in the images that I have shot over the past several decades. The emulsion-based film along with the various types of intriguing paper, alluring chemistry and beautiful glass are what I use to compose my canvas. When the aroma of a darkroom hits my brain – creative black and white thoughts get agitated. There is something intoxicating about the aroma film chemistry. Spending a number of years as a printer in one of DC’s premier film houses, has left its unforgettable mark.

Editorial and studio work for private clients makes up a significant portion of my portfolio. The exhibits that I’ve been involved in are group and solo installations. In addition to street photography, I have shown work produced as a photographer for the former Duke Ellington Jazz Fest and through my personal quest to document local blues musicians. The Smithsonian Museum of American History and DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, as well as private collections and galleries, have accessioned street photography and portraits.