About the Photographer | Personal Statement | Comments by Others
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Steven Nestler © 2002 Hester Esquinazi
Steven Nestler is known for his beautifully crafted prints of uniquely intimate and personal landscapes.
He has been a photographer and teacher for over 30 years, and is currently teaching at the Art Institute
of Fort Lauderdale.
His work has been acquired by numerous permanent collections, including:
- The Museum of Modern Art, New York
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- The Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University
- The Art Institute of Chicago
- The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
- Stanford University Art Museum
- The Art Museum of Vassar College
- The Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, New York
Additionally, his work has been collected by numerous prominent artists, including:
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News Photograph of Steven Nestler (R) with
Fred Picker at a gallery opening, 1975 |
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Many years ago, as a young man, I asked the great photogapher, Paul Caponigro, how I could develop my own style. It was easy to see that he had done so; even though he worked in a straightforward, honest manner that was true to the subject, I could pick his work out of any group of similar images. His advice was to keep working honestly, avoid the temptation
of gimmickry, and it would "just happen." While it was difficult for a young man to hear that, I followed his advice, and find that, over 30 years later, without my knowing quite when it happened, my prints do feel unique in style.
I learned early on, that photography, as a medium, is an empty vessel that one fills with their consciousness. I could work in basically the same traditional style for my entire lifetime, and yet see the subtle differences that come from the differences within me.
Mine is a personal quest for the inner life of my subjects; not so much about look, as about feel. Photography as a spiritual experience is rooted in great tradition, from Alfred Stieglitz and Paul Strand; through Ansel Adams and Minor White; then through Paul Caponigro and Steve Gersh.
And finally, it is for each photographer to make it their own, drawing on their life experiences to inform their choices.
Photography truly is a way of life and a way of seeing the world; a kind of spiritual meditation for those who are fully engaged in it. I feel so blessed to see the world stop its ceaseless activity for a moment, and form itself into a perfect little rectangle for me, revealing just enough of its secrets, just long enough to allow me to catch a glimpse.
What makes this experience even more wonderful and unique, is that I am fortunate enough to come away from it with a photograph, a record of that moment I can share with others.
Most fortunately, I have a wonderful and inspirational partner to share with; my wife Cindy.
Her smile, on seeing a new print, is the validation that every artist seeks.
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
1974 Field Trip with Students; Photograph by Roger Dollarhide
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"His photographic works sing in tonalities that generate a far more reflective and considerate response, a sensuous encounter with the dark, brooding waters and vegetative life of the Everglades. As you spend time with this work, you may see things that are not traditionally encountered. His images are imbued with a scent, a breeze, a whiff of secrets he is revealing.
These moments are not simply records of an instant or an event, but require a viewer's willingness to immerse him or herself in a more intimate relationship with these evocative images."
-Siegfried Halus, internationally known photographer, photo historian, and critic
"Steven Nestler's perfect rectangles capture a unique moment in time that he shares with us. The artistic and spiritual emotions that come to life from the extraordinary gradations of the silver shadows of his negatives, and the intimacy of detail and grandeur of nature they document, reveal his vision and quest for the inner life of his subjects. His meticulous approach to his traditional photographic and printmaking techniques are hallmarks of his distinctive style, deep-rooted in tradition."
-Arnold H. Drapkin, Picture Editor TIME magazine (retired)
"In our digital age, it is refreshing to find photographs such as those by Steven Nestler, photographs that carry on the vision of Ansel Adams, Edward Weston and others. Creating such photographs takes commitment, time, and love. The challenge for Steven has been to search, find, and capture the spiritual beauty deeply embedded in nature. His photographs reflect this."
-Richard Zakia, Professor Emeritus, Rochester Institute of Technology
Realizing that many visitors to this site are photographers, themselves, and realizing how much photogaphers enjoy "talking shop," here are the answers to some of the questions I'm most frequently asked:
I. My Gear
For many years, my preference has been to photogaph with wooden view cameras, although for the past several years, I have worked with a Sinar F, for finding it faster and easier to lock the movements.
I have 90mm, 135mm, and 210 mm lenses. I find that I use the 210 mm most frequently; probably because I tend to favor
small and personal vignettes, rather than grand landscapes. It's not that I don't enjoy the visual gifts I am sometimes given in the form of large scenes; it's just that I especially delight in the small things that serve as metaphors for my internal processes.
I often use filters to enhance tonal separation, but try to avoid overdoing it. The subtle gradations of a silver print are exciting to me;
my intention is only to facilitate that subtlety. I strive to see the world as clearly and honestly as I can, and to present my images in the same manner.
II. Film
Most of my exposures are made with Ilford FP4 film, which I rate at ISO 60, to enhance the shadow detail. I have taught the Zone System for many years, and use it for all images.
I develop my film in a Jobo processor, using Pyro developer. Since switching to Pyro several years ago, I am constantly amazed by the qualities I obtain. I anticipated the wonderful highlight gradation; but the amazing sharpness continually surprises me.
III. Printing
For printing, I am fortunate to have one of the finest enlargers in the world, a Durst L1300. Its stability and sharpness are incomparable, and make printmaking an absolute delight. The paper I tend to favor at this point is Ilford Multigrade fiber base, which I tone in selenium. Processing chemistry of choice is Sprint Systems.
IV. No Digital?
I recognize the benefits of digital processes. I use Lightroom and Photoshop to ready my images for the website, and enjoy the benefits of programs like Dreamweaver to construct the pages.
It's just that Photography, as I enjoy it, involves a way of seeing and a way of being, that calls for concentration and simplification. Continually purchasing and learning new technology may be fun and exciting in their own right, but, at least for now, it just isn't what I enjoy most about photography.
All photographs are, by their nature, a rendition, and not a literal truth; yet the traditionally made photograph feels to me to be closer to truth than I can feel with the digital process. I enjoy using my computer; but it doesn't compare with the thrill of seeing a beautiful handcrafted silver print appearing magically in the darkroom. In the meantime, I greatly appreciate the opportunity to purchase used traditional equipment at great prices, as more photographers switch to digital equipment.
I try to enjoy what I can from each of the technologies; traditional and digital.
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"Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire."
-G. K. Chesterton
"There is nothing as mysterious as a fact clearly described."
-Gary Winogrand
"Too much modern art has as its goal merely to be interesting. Whatever happened to profound and beautiful?"
-Paul Strand
"Art is not about the expression of talent or the making of pretty things.
It is about the preservation and containment of the soul.
It is about arresting life and making it available for contemplation.
Art captures the eternal in the every day, and it is the eternal that feeds the soul."
-Thomas Moore
"One of the most important pieces of equipment, for the photographer who really wants to improve, is a great big wastepaper basket."
-Ansel Adams
"I invent nothing, I rediscover."
- Auguste Rodin
"Skill without imagination is craftsmanship and gives us many useful objects,such as wickerwork picnic baskets.
Imagination without skill gives us modern art. "
-Tom Stoppard
"To the ignorant man, a tree is merely a tree, a river merely
a river, and a mountain merely a mountain.
When he has studied, and learned more of the world, a tree is
no longer merely a tree, a river no longer merely a river, and a
mountain no longer merely a mountain.
And when he has studied further, and truly found enlightenment,
a tree is once more a tree, a river once more a river, and a
mountain is once more a mountain."
-Zen Saying
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