Artist Statement
My work has evolved from a compulsion to record what I see in the world around me to an extension of my own spiritual practice. Beginning in the 1980's with large format panoramic cameras (6 x 17cm) and today with a medium format digital camera, their creation still requires eliminating distractions, letting go of preconceived ideas, opening up to possibilities, a willingness to make mistakes, persistence, and lots of patience. These bodies of work stand as examples of what is eternal, outlasting all our human foibles.
Chronology
1945 Born, Monterey, CA
1963 – 1968 Attended University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI. Graduated 1968.
1968 – 1971 U. S. Naval Officer, served in Vietnam
1972 – 1973 Attended Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, one of only 3 professional photography schools at the time.
1973 – 1975 Studio Manager and photographer at Lewis Studios, Fairfield, NJ, a 20,000 sf room set studio
1975 – 1976 Freelance photographer, Denver, CO
1976 – 1989 Personal photography projects
1989 Assisted photographer Stephen Wilkes, introduced to iconic panoramic photography
1989 – 2005 Uniquely photographed many parts of the American West, Alaska, Mexico, & Canada with medium format panoramic cameras, selling to clients internationally.
1989 – 2017 Contributing stock photographer to Panoramic Images, Chicago, IL. Images used in ad campaigns for companies that include General Motors, National Geographic, and Delta Airlines, among many others.
1994 – 1997 Traveled extensively, primarily in South East Asia, photographing golf courses on assignment for architects, advertisers, magazines, and developers
1999 Self published Tufa & Moon, Mono Lake poster to accompany gallery showing and 12 ft print installation at Mono Lake Committee building.
2001 Acquired one of the first very large format professional inkjet printers and over the next year taught himself how to use it.
2003 Intensive year long photographic study of Descanso Gardens, a botanical garden near Pasadena, CA. Work praised by Anne Lyden, Associate Curator of Photographs at the J. Paul Getty Museum who compared the images to Gustave Le Grey’s 1849 images of Fontaineblue outside Paris.
2003 Began several year assignment documenting the City of Anaheim, CA, for their corporate publications.
2004, 2005 Authored two annual panoramic calendars consisting entirely of own images distributed nationally by Shearson Publishing Co, Minneapolis, MN.
2006 DESCANSO: An Urban Oasis Revealed published by Balcony Press, Los Angeles, CA (not self published) and distributed by Chronicle Books and Princeton University Press.
2007 – 2014 Primarily devoted to residential spiritual community, Ananda Ashrama, La Crescenta, CA, where I developed a series of photographs for the ashrama’s 100th anniversary calendar and contributed to their publications. Also produced stock images for Panoramic Images, Chicago, IL, from the US, Europe, & India.
2015 Moved to Santa Fe, NM, to continue and expand photographic career, with studio/gallery in home.
2016 Successful member of the Santa Fe Studio Tour with high sales volume.
Awards
2007 PX3, Third Prize, Professional Nature Book
2007 USA Book News, Best Book – Photography:Nature “DESCANSO: An Urban Oasis Revealed”
1993 Stan Stevens Tours, Alaska Photography Contest, 1st prize, $5,000
1990 Sierra Club photography contest, 2nd place, Horizons
Solo Exhibitions
2006 Descanso Gardens, La Canada Flintridge, CA. In addition, video of garden images continues on permanent exhibition of the work.
2003 Earth & Water, Susan Spiritus Gallery, Newport Beach, CA
1999 Mono Lake Committee Gallery, Lee Vining, CA
1992 National Audubon Society, Playa Del Rey, CA
Group Exhibitions
2016 Transitions, EditionOne Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2014 ASMP Member Exhibit, Photo LA, Los Angeles, CA
2014 Portraits of the Garden, Sturt Haaga Gallery, Descanso Gardens, La Canada Flintridge, CA
2006 Wiford Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2005
2004
2003 & 2002 Wiford & Vogt Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1998 Ansel Adams Gallery, Yosemite National Park, CA
Representation
2002-2006 Wiford Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1991-2001 Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1994-1998 Ansel Adams Gallery, Yosemite National Park, CA
1992-1994 Photography West, Carmel, CA
1991-1995 Vision Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Selected Collections
Santa Barbara Museum of Art
Gibson, Dunn, & Crutcher, Newport Beach, CA
Trust Company of the West, Los Angeles, CA & New York, NY
Union Bank of California
LA Cardiology, Los Angeles, CA & Palmdale, CA
Descanso Gardens Guild
Teaching
2007 Landscape photography intensive, Descanso Gardens, La Canada Flintridge, CA
Lectures
2007 Vroman’s Bookstore, Pasadena, CA
1998 Photo Expo, New York, NY
1997 Golf Asia Conference, Singapore
Bibliography
LA Times, Home Section, May 10, 2007, “Descanso, seen in a singular light”. Book review written by southwest author and explorer Craig Childs.
KCET Television, Life & Times public television feature interview by Val Zavalla, May 2007, Los Angeles, CA
DESCANSO: An Urban Oasis Revealed, hardcover and softcover book published by Balcony Press, Los Angeles, CA, 2007. A year long intensive panoramic study of a botanical garden, with essays by Anne Leyden, Associate Curator of Photography at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; David R. Brown, former President of Art Center College of Design and Executive Director of Descanso Gardens; & Robert Smaus, former Garden Editor of the LA Times.
Camera Arts Magazine, Finding the Spirit of the Scene, October/November 2004, an article self written
describing personal printing process.
Golf Vacations Magazine, photography column, spring 1995 to July/December 1998
Education
University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, BA Asian History, 1968
Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, Professional Photography, 1972-1973
Website
www.warrenmarr.com (since 1996)
How to use our image viewer
Click on any of the thumbnail images to launch the viewer. You can then navigate forward and backward within the portfolio by clicking the left or right side of the enlarged image. Click the add to collection checkbox to automatically add an image to your collection. Image tags or search engine keywords appear below the collections' checkbox and each word or phrase is a link to potentially more image matches.
