Conversations with Brent Newman

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brent Newman.

Hi Brent, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am a wilderness photographer presently located in Park County, Colorado. A wildlife habitat geospatial analyst by profession, I use my professional background to plan and map technical shoots, and I use my knowledge of natural patterns and processes to tell a richer story of grand landscapes, nightscapes, and intimate natural scenes that embody the spirit of the natural world.

I began my photographic journey by dabbling with a Sony Powershot in the late 1990s, shooting small, natural scenes within the dense forests of the Pennsylvania Appalachians. But I always fantasized about the grand landscapes by Ansel Adams of the American West. In 2006, I bought a DSLR and tried making more deliberate photographs. Finally, I moved to Colorado in 2016 and purchased my first full frame mirrorless camera and began making photographs that I still hang on my walls today. In recent years, I have been invited to dozens of juried exhibitions in the Denver Metro and surrounding cities, was a runner-up in the Natural Landscape Photography Awards, and published a story in Outdoor Photographer magazine.

I strive to share my experiences of our remaining natural landscapes at all scales and during day and night to capture the true essence of wild places. I enjoy capturing the awe of sweeping landscapes to introduce viewers to the natural landscape, but I revel in telling a more complete story of untrammeled places by creating smallscapes and abstracts to add depth to the breadth of grand landscapes. I love using my camera to illuminate the invisible beauty of nightscapes, ghostly vegetation in the near infrared spectrum, and capturing natural phenomena to satisfy my passionate curiosity about the natural world. While I must plan for capturing ephemeral events and my geographic intuition tends to place me in spectacular locations at ideal times, my style is generally more perceptive and opportunistic off the beaten path. In sharing my experiences of the natural world, I hope others build a better appreciation of our wild places and create their own experiences in nature.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
As with other sectors of photography, landscape photography is experiencing considerable challenges. Beginning with the widespread adoption of Photoshop and especially now with generative AI, the public is losing trust in photographs as symbols of objective reality. Likewise, the reduction of technical barriers of digital photography has created a catch-22 where a much wider audience can now create landscape photographs, which has led to a saturated market. These forces, coupled with a recent economic downturn, have created a very challenging market for me. As a result, I have had to pull back from participating in juried exhibitions this year.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I would say that I am a wilderness photography specialist generalist. In my wilderness photography, I not only focus on landscapes but also on small naturalscapes, nightscapes, abstractions, grayscales, near infrared, and timelapse photography. I’m not sure what I am best known for, but my nightscapes and mountainscapes seem to be most popular lately. Perhaps not coincidentally, I am most proud of my nightscapes and mountainscapes, and I think my wilderness approach makes these images unique. I strive to capture locations that I have never seen photographed and in wilderness areas that are rarely visited. I most enjoy being off-trail or climbing high peaks on my own and revel in shooting in severe winter weather.

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
While there are some friendly places within social media, I would recommend looking for local photography clubs and specialized photography organizations. While there are some constructive online places like the Nature Photographers Network, I enjoy chatting with artists at their galleries and seeking out organizations tangentially related to your favorite photography genre. For example, if you are interested in astrophotography, join your local astronomy club. For wildlife photography, join a birding group. Or join your local chamber of commerce.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://brentnewman.photography
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BrentNewmanPhotography

Image Credits
Brent Newman