My Portfolio

Welcome to my collection of images—some captured decades ago on film and rediscovered, others created more recently with the tools of the digital darkroom.

 

I began this journey with my father’s Army-issue camera when I was seven, growing up in a small town north of Milwaukee. I studied photography at Layton School of Art under Gerhard Bakker and spent years photographing life across Wisconsin—landscapes, working farms, forgotten towns, and people—some while working for community newspapers on Milwaukee’s North Side.

 

Some images I take are simply to record a scene as it is—like a war correspondent, documenting what’s there. Others are meant to express something I felt in the moment, or something I saw that might not be visible at first glance. I often think: if you gave the same “raw” photo to two people, you’d get two completely different images after editing.

 

People sometimes ask, “What would Ansel Adams do?” The answer is: he’d do what we do. Only in the darkroom. He dodged and burned. He rubbed corners of prints to deepen shadows. We use masks, sliders, and curves—but the intent is the same.

 

What I don’t do is add mountains, rocks, or coffee pots that weren’t there. I don’t believe in turning a photograph into fiction. But I might add a little fog or soften the edges of light—because those moments sometimes deserve just a whisper more than the camera saw.

 

After years running a grocery store, working in politics, and later with Walmart, I returned to photography. Now retired, I’m sorting through thousands of images—editing, reworking, and sharing them as prints, greeting cards, and online galleries.

 

I still love black and white photography. I still believe that a single photo can stir thought or bring a smile. I hope something here does that for you.

 

— Gordon H Werner

Photo Artist