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About Michael - Art Photographer of the American West
Michael Paul is an internationally awarded art photographer, author, and speaker whose romantic documentary style images have become known for celebrating the timeless grandeur of the American West. Backed by passionate expertise in American history and lessons from patient hours of field work, his images reflect a calm spiritual connection with his subjects and a passion for feeling alive in the process of capturing them. Artistic influences include those that brought significant early 19th century imagery of the West to the world — Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Moran, William Henry Jackson, Carleton Watkins, and other contemporaries. Michael's photography has been featured in the documentaries of Ken Burns and publications like Arizona Highways magazine. His artwork has found its way into private collections across the country and public exhibitions where they are celebrated for capturing the fleeting, dramatic, and inspiring moments that otherwise go unseen.
Artist Statement
Art cannot exist without the human element in both its creation and appreciation. It is our experiences, emotions, values, and hopes that are the building blocks of art. The need to have those very parts of our beings stimulated is why art is created and consumed. Photographs are silent witnesses of select moments that showcase our world. They lock in the fleeting reality around us and remind us that while every day there is reason for despair, angst and pain, there is also beauty, hope and light to uplift us.
What better subject than the American West? It is the stage on which American mythology played out. Its vast sweeping landscapes, cavernous craggy mountains and endless rivers bear witness to the evolution of a continent destined to symbolize freedom, opportunity, change and tragedy. While time presses on, the West offers glimpses of its past when man and beast were free from political and geographic restraints and governed by nature’s laws alone. These inspirations fall through my lenses and straight to the viewer. May this land’s harsh lessons and messages of hope forever be a part of the human spirit.
