My Story Part 2 by Frank J Casella

This is part 2 of the three part story about my photography. If you missed part 1 you can find that here ( https://fineartamerica.com/blogs/my-story-by-frank-j-casella.html ).

The final installment, part 3, I will send you in a couple days (on Monday).

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While at Columbia College Chicago, John H. White and I hit it off while I was in his photojournalism class, and before I knew it I was working freelance for suburban and city newspapers in Chicago. Then the greatest compliment happened when John authored an coffee table book about Cardinal Bernardin. This was very special for me to see my mentor make a book about the Church that has inspired my life and pictures, and the man whom I was assigned to photograph.

Since college I have worked with many mediums of photography, mostly for Catholic institutions and family-owned businesses. Around 2008 when the digital camera met the internet it changed the business of photography as we knew it up to that point. Over the years I have consistently had to reinvent myself as a photographer, but nothing compares to what digital technology and its learning curve has done with photography.

Did you know that more pictures have been made since the invention of the phone camera than all the pictures in the history of photography combined?

In 2012 while developing relationships through my WordPress blog I was introduced to Fine Art America and its brilliant business model. This opened the door for new opportunities for my photography that I never dreamed of, and thoughts came to mind of all the people in past years who encouraged me to create fine art photography.

The response to this has been tremendous, as many people who have my photography on their walls say how much they are inspired and feel a sense of hope in everyday life from my artwork. The value of this is priceless to me, because, as John White would say, simple moments make lasting impact.

In helping Fine Art America transition to a new website Brand, Pixels.com, I helped to volunteer my time as the moderator for the thousands of themed artist groups. I did this for two years before I was hired as the Executive Director of the Homewood Area Chamber of Commerce in my home town … all of that is another story separate from my photography vita here.

Photography for me is mostly about how the click of the shutter records history of a moment in time. Video has its strengths with sound and motion, but when you look at a still image long enough there is a story to be told in just that one frame. I am not one to concentrate on the technical aspects, or the lighting or equipment, as much as I craft the composition and story. I just let the picture happen.

Because how my photo mentor, John H. White, always said simple moments make big impact, the one thing I've noticed looking at my pictures from over the past thirty years is that we all live the same story. Just different people in different locations and circumstances. I think the late photographer Edward Stiechen said it best: "Photography is a major source of explaining man to man".

You would think that with my experience in photographing the Catholic Church that I would mostly have images of such today. I believe that the modern Church has no walls when it comes to living our Faith. We sit in the pew to learn our faith from the Clergy as well as from other parishioners. We take that information to the streets and try to live it, and this is what I try to document with my camera -- goodness and hope in action. ...

.... We live in a war-torn world. As humans we naturally seek a sense of structure in our lives. All of our religion can be illustrated with pictures; everything can be explained with pictures.

People ask me what is my niche with my photos and my art. You will find flowers, architecture, people, weather, product, or worship, tree branches and shadows, to name a few. Over the years I have been known as a photojournalist, a portrait photographer, a wedding photographer, and most recently fine art photographer.

Today I call myself a photographer; I make pictures of the hope of God's love in the world.

No matter the subject you will find an element that tells a story, or makes you smile, or to walk away from it asking yourself questions about your own life and your own faith. This goes back to my childhood, when I saw my father every morning praying the rosary. It wasn't prayers for himself as much as for his family and our world.

My pictures to me are a form of my prayers, a gift to the world … to humanity.

I hope you enjoy reading my story about photography, as much as I enjoy sharing it with you.

Frank


PS. Now that you know something about me I would like to learn something about you, or contact me ( https://frankjcasella.pixels.com/contact.html ) to share what resonates with you and why.