Steve Edson is currently showing works in Beacon Gallery’s Perception Abstraction show as well as an Artsy online exclusive entitled Fleeting Moments.
Edson has been working as a photographer for over 40 years, and has honed his craft in both the fine art and documentary fields. Working in commercial architectural photography and later in fashion, Edson captured the contours and grandeur of buildings and clothing alike. A graduate of Massachusetts College of Art + Design with a Bachelor of Arts in Studio for Inter-Related Media, Edson has worked as a professional photographer for companies and projects large and small. Through it all, he continues his fine art photography.
“The camera works to document the external, but more importantly, magnifies the mysteries which exist within one’s self.”
Steve Edson
Edson’s fine art photography today—as seen in Beacon Gallery’s Perception Abstraction—demonstrates his dynamism as a photographer as he probes into the character of inanimate objects, explores abstraction in reality and beauty in the everyday.
As a child, Steven Edson was captivated by photographs he saw in magazines like National Geographic and Life Magazine. Those images revealed the evocative potential of photography; communicating the very essence of a subject to an audience that would likely never encounter them. From a young age, Edson aspired to strive for the same, vesting his attention into the intricacies of color, texture, and space.
In Architectural Detail, the undulating curves of the building seem to emerge from the print, adding impressions of a third dimension to a distinctly two-dimensional medium. Though emphatically elegant, the structure is monotonous and imposing—sensations that Edson heightens through the photograph’s lack of color and confined framing. Similar techniques can be seen at play in Corn Husks in the Snow, a wintry scene of labored repetition that expertly conveys that vast emptiness of the land.
Though the defining bleakness of Corn Husks is not common within Edson’s oeuvre, all of his photography maintains the same careful attention to detail and pursuit of authenticity. Edson explains, “I use bright colors and a bold graphic perspective to speak to my audiences. I try to communicate the human side to my work which will engage my audience with an honest and authentic approach.”
To budding photographers, Edson emphasizes the importance of perseverance, exploration, and above all—confidence in your inner vision. His work has been exhibited in shows all across the country, and notably won a gold medal for ‘The Art of the Automobile’ series at the Graphis International Photography Awards in 2017.
Edson continues to work from his home outside of Boston, and is currently documenting the harsh realities of quarantined life. To keep up with his work, you can find him @edsonphotoart on Instagram and Twitter, or @EdsonFineArtPhotography on Facebook.
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