Henry Bortman (b. 1950)

I am a digital photograph living and working in San Francisco.

My quiet, minimalist work explores the subtle shapes and shadings of the natural world. I prefer to photograph in solitude, in subdued light, bathed in the sights, sounds, and scents of nature. My photographs distill down these immersive multi-sensory experiences and express them as two-dimensional images. Although I consider myself a landscape photographer, I often focus on small details of a scene, rendering them as scale-ambiguous abstractions.

My journey as a photographer began six decades ago, when my parents gave me a Kodak Brownie box camera for my 13th birthday. More recently, I have honed my craft at City College of San Francisco, Santa Fe Workshops and the San Francisco Center for the Book.

I have exhibited at CCSF’s Gallery Obscura, the RayKo Photo Center (San Francisco), City Art Gallery (San Francisco), Palo Alto Art Center, San Francisco Women Artists Gallery, O’Hanlon Center for the Arts (Mill Valley, CA) and the Midwest Center for Photography (Wichita, KS). My work was also included in the Hayward Arts Council’s 40th Anniversary Exhibition in the John O’Lague Galleria at Hayward City Hall, where I was awarded an Honorable Mention.

Currently, a solo show of my Atmographs is on display at Mission Bowling Club in San Francisco.