Bruce Shortz - Biography

Biography

“Real life is your best entertainment value.” I have been artistically guided by that self-evident truth for the last 60 years. I see ‘real life’ as an assortment of artistic statements in patterns, colors, parody and themes, begging to be recorded. My photographs reflect the notion that ‘things are not what they seem to be’, typically within the context of the ‘story within a story’.

I began my photographic career in the late 60’s with a twin lens reflex camera, shortly thereafter graduating to medium format; eschewing 35mm work as being insufficiently capable of capturing ‘the decisive moment’. Experience in a studio partnership in the early seventies led to commercial work (4x5) and the range of jobs that could sustain a photographer just starting out: Weddings, portraits and the odd jobs that one does with as much aplomb as one can muster. My real interests were in ‘fine art photography’, such as it was in the 70’s. There was hardly a market then, while the debate still raged whether or not photography was ‘legitimate’. Ten thousand rolls of film later, plus countless hours in the darkroom and enough experimentation to exhaust Duchamp, legitimate or not, I am still doing what I enjoy most – recording the richness, sadness, joy and mystery of life.
The studio work ceased shortly after its creation, with the need to get a ‘real job’.

During twenty-five years in business, I never lost sight of my photographic ambitions. As I moved to various parts of the country, the darkroom always followed. In 1995 the darkroom was replaced by computer applications and medium format went the way of 35mm. After I retired from the business world in 1997, my wife and I moved to Portugal simply for the adventure. In Portugal I quickly fell in with the art crowd. Being an American doing ‘digital’ photographic fine art, I enjoyed a lofty status there. Due to my participation in group shows and solo projects throughout Portugal, my work was gaining acceptance and maturity. I did the circuit from prestigious galleries, important international biennials to smoky, underground bars and cafes. 
We returned to New Mexico in 2001, settling in Albuquerque. Since then, major investments in printing and digital equipment have allowed me to further refine my art and pursue my forty-five-year passion for capturing ‘real life’. At present, I’m the founder and President of 10000 Cranes Studio, a print facility for artists and photographers.

 

Artist Statement

Constructing the artwork for this event was a labor of love. I am an avid graphic novel reader and creating my own graphic novel, calling upon my 45 years of photography (exploration) experience was challenging. What is to say that the graphic novel in 2 foot x 3 foot panels can’t sit in the pantheon of 2D art that we look at and admire? Or whatever it is that we do when we look at art. Well, my ambition is for the viewer to laugh, or ponder, or find joy, or bring forefinger to temple and contemplate what they are looking at.

Assembling the characters to my story was not a simple process; to create the images in AI, hours of descriptive phrases were required to create each character along with the color schemes, tone, lighting, position (camera angles), expressions, clothing, headgear, backgrounds and other characteristics that defined each panel used in the final presentation.

AI was not used in the story itself nor the layout. I wrote the story without the aid of AI. I chose the comic book format and layout to complete the graphic novel. Art is a many splendid things, especially when it is presented as a graphic novel. Looks good behind any couch.