About the Artist

Working as a theatrical lighting designer and musical theater stage director for over forty years, Larry's photography has been largely avocational; mostly used in his own design and directing portfolio, or for promotional, production pictures. including actor headshots.  His work with stage lighting gives him a special understanding and a unique vision for his artistic photography. He has been active as a fine art photographer for forty years.

His artistic photography work is mostly in landscapes, scenic, nature, wildlife, still life, buildings, nautical themes, plus includes abstract figure studies and aerial work. Larry's work is exhibited in galleries throughout Northwest Indiana, Suburban Chicago and Southwest Michigan plus appears in several private collections, in several regional calendars, and part of advertising and billboard campaigns.

Larry earned his Doctor of Fine Arts in Theatre Studies, and received his Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees from Purdue University Calumet in Radio/TV/Theater Production and Management.  Recently retired from his full time work as an Auditorium and Musical Theater Director after a total of over 40 years, that includes 16 years  as the Auditorium Director for the School Town of Munster's (Indiana) 1000 seat theater plus Producer/Director of the Munster Theatre Company. Prior to that he was the Theatre Administrator/Production Manager for The Center for Visual & Performing Arts professional theater operation Theatre at The Center, also serving as resident lighting designer for six years. Larry previously worked as Auditorium/Theater Director for Highland's Monbeck Auditorium for 13 years. He also worked as an adjunct professor at Calumet College and Purdue Northwest, and did part time/consulting as Community Arts Coordinator for Indiana University Northwest's new Arts on Broadway 500-seat mainstage and related facilities.

Larry has been active as an on-air pledge host for Lakeshore Public Media (PBS / NPR), plus also is Board Chair for Lakeshore Public Media, Vice-Chair for Chesterton Art Center,  on the Regional Arts Council, and previously served on Southern Shore Art Association, Hobart Arts League, the South Shore Leadership Center / Leadership Northwest Indiana, and LakeNET boards, Main Square Players, Northwest Opera Theatre boards.

He is a 1997 recipient of the Purdue University Calumet Distinguished Corporate/Community Service Award, the 2010 Purdue University Calumet Alumni Leadership Award, and the 1999 Distinguished Leadership Award from the National Association for Community Leadership.  Larry is a voting member for the recording industry's Grammy Awards since 1981, and in 2017 was honored by the academy with a Lifetime Voting Membership Status.

In January 2016, Larry was inducted into the Indiana Thespian Hall of Fame for his outstanding long-time service in educational theater.

You can hear Larry every week discussing arts and art events on ART ON THE AIR every Sunday at 7pm CT on Lakeshore Public Media 89.1FM also heard every Friday on WVLP 103.1FM Valparaiso, Indiana at 11am CT streaming at WVLP.org, rebroadcast on Monday at 5pm CT.

Previous shows may be heard/downloaded as podcasts at Lakeshore Public Radio 89.1FM or at brech.com/aota, plus it is available on most podcast platforms including  on your smart speaker.

He served as TV host of the Chicago/Midwest Emmy award winning Eye On The Arts series October-December 2020.

ARTIST STATEMENT
Creative photography is more than making a simple visual recording, it involves the innovative artistry and vision of a photographer, who manipulates the given visual elements in order to both preserve and represent the subject while creating New Perspectives.  I view my artistic photography as more than merely making a visual recording of existing subjects, but to capture both obvious and subtle visions of the subject.  A photograph actually freezes a moment in time, forever preserving an image of people, places, things, or events, which then can be revisited again and again, thus creating an existence of its very own.  A creative image is both the product of the subject and the artist, whose discriminating perception seeks to evoke those more intangible and profound impressions of intimacy and mood. The viewer completes this triad (subject, artist, and viewer) by hopefully realizing a successful artistic communication.

STYLE
In both my color and monochromatic photography, understanding light is the key to any successful image.  While color photography currently has less artistic acceptance, it forms a major portion of my scenic and nature work. Color is an important compositional element, tied more directly to mood than any other visual element.  Modern photography can create a full palate and range of natural colors, and manipulating this natural color to enhance or intensify the mood represents an important stylistic portion of my work.  When I choose monochrome over color, it is to heighten the focus on shape, form, texture, pattern, and tonality, by removing color as a visual element.  By its inherent nature, a black & white image evokes a different and more ethereal emotional response to the subject.

The postcard style images are consciously part of my scenic visual style. Compressing the visual elements in order to achieve a flattened perspective of the subject is a strong characteristic of my scenic images. Isolating a subject from the background in order to reveal and capture details, which may be otherwise overlooked by a casual observer, is an important style element of my photography. Especially used in my close-up macro work, I like to focus attention on the minute details of the subject.

An artist's style should not be static, but consistently open to alternate visions.

- Larry A Brechner

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BLACK & WHITE vs. COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY

Modern photography can create a full palate and range of natural colors, and manipulating this natural color to enhance or intensify the mood represents an important option for the photographer. Color is a very important compositional element, tied more directly to mood than any other visual element in all visual arts.

However, color often visually dominates a viewer’s response to a piece, creating a distraction about the content or subject of an image.  Understanding light is the key to any successful image, but black & white photos allow for a wider range of light, from very dark, low-key images, to bright high-key renderings.

Choosing monochrome over color for the final image rendering, the photographer seeks to heighten the focus on shape, form, texture, pattern, and tonality, by removing color as a visual element.  Because we see the world in color, a black & white image, by its inherent nature, evokes a different, more ethereal yet dramatic emotional response to the subject. There also is simplicity to a black & white image.

Finally, a black & white image has a nostalgic element, tied to the very origins of the photographic process, where a black & white image suggests a romanticized, idealized past.  Black & White images have a timeless quality not always captured as well in color images.

 Larry A Brechner

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