Bruce Barnbaum was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1943. He was not always an artist, his earliest career was in mathematics and physics, but by the 1960s he had discovered a new hobby in photography. By 1970 this hobby became his life's work as he switched from science to art. He studied the profession under the guidance of Ansel Adams which has helped shaped his art and won the Ansel Adams Award for Photography and Conservation in 1974.
Bruce Barnbaum's Art focuses on landscapes, architectural and abstract photographs. His art has been influenced by many things, including his former photography teacher, Ansel Adams, his previous career, a mathematical physicist and also his zeal as an environmentalist.
Ansel Adams was a keen landscape photographer and this enthusiasm seems to have been passed on to Bruce who has many photos that are of landscapes. However Ansel has not played that big a role in shaping Bruce's artwork as one day Bruce showed Ansel his black and white photograph work and was told that he should not keep taking black and white photographs.
English: Front view of entrance, "Church, Taos Pue...
English: Ansel Adams The Tetons and the Snake Rive...
English: A photo portrait of photographer Ansel Ad...It is obvious that Bruce did not listen to the advice of Ansel and is now completely devoted to black and white photography.
Before Bruce became a photographer he was a keen environmentalist. This eagerness to protect the nature is evident in his photography. Many of his photographs are of unique formations on the Earth which shows his need to show the beauty he sees in nature. His mathematical background in physics also shapes his artwork although it is very subtle. His images are smooth with a series of flowing unbroken curved shapes like "lucid elaborations of complex equations", as the New York Times describes it.
Bruce Barnbaum 'belongs' to his own photography schools or 'workshops' as he calls...