Mark Nelson left a successful career as the Executive Director of an outpatient mental health clinic to pursue his photography in 2001. In addition to being a very talented photographer, Mark is also a master printmaker, specializing in hand made prints using photochemical process discovered during the 19th century. His specialty, platinum and palladium printing, involves hand coating fine art papers with chemistry containing these precious metals and then contact printing them with large negatives and ultraviolet light. The images of these prints are made of these precious metals— highly prized for their beautiful tonal scale, depth, and longevity. His prints are in a number of private collections.

Mark combines this 19th century technology with current digital technology by making his negatives on a computer. His system for doing this, Precision Digital Negatives, is described in a book he authored—Precision Digital Negatives for Silver and Other Alternative Photographic Processes. His book is considered the definitive book on this topic and is currently used in some university photography programs.

Mark also teaches workshops on his methods all over the country and at various universities. He has taught and provided consultations to a number of well known photographers, both from the United States and abroad. He has also written articles for Camera Arts Magazine and View Camera Magazine.

His photography has been published in Black & White Magazine, Camera Arts Magazine, View Camera Magazine, and various photography books. His work spans a broad range of subjects, including landscapes, the human figure, still life, and botanicals.

“I work two ways with images, internally and externally. The internal work comes from my own imagination. I am very deliberate in how I re-create and photograph them. The external work includes those moments, where a tree or a seedpod catches my attention. I want to capture that moment and share it with other people. People rush through their lives and miss so much. Perhaps my images will help them see a few things they missed along the way.

My interests in the world around me are very wide-ranging and my photography reflects this. I follow my interests and take my camera along. The camera is my pen—a sophisticated tool that provides a path to my own growth— and my prints are my journal.

You make a choice when you take a photograph. You choose what is important to you and what fascinates you. The final image is then a reflection of your reaching deep down inside yourself and creating your own visualization of the flower, the tree, or the human figure. Hopefully when people view your images, this feeling is passed on to them, to share and enjoy.”

— Mark Nelson

More of Mark’s work can be viewed at www.MarkINelsonPhoto.com & www.PrecisionDigitalNegatives.com