Steven Friedman
Steven Friedman was born in 1964 in Ottawa, Canada, graduated from University with a degree in Economics and pursued a successful career as an Economic Consultant. First working with a pre-eminent Canadian economic think tank, and then breaking out on his own, it wasn’t until he found an SLR camera on an autumn hiking adventure in the Gatineau Park that he took his first photograph. This new found craft quickly became his passion and before long he established himself as a respected fine art photographer.
Steven’s talent for capturing the natural beauty of the world through his expansive, evocative landscapes can’t help but bring you into the moment. The imagery transports you behind his lens to explore remote and inaccessible regions, awakening a sense of wonder and appreciation for the natural world; the crispness of the air as the sun rises, the smoothness of sandstone carved by thousands of years of wind and water, the dance of intense colour.
Steven’s prior life as an Economist seems incongruous with the artistic side of his brain that creates such beautiful art, yet they are similar. As an Economist, he made sense of often random appearing data; in his photographic work he makes sense of the chaos of nature.
To capture the images, Steven travels to remote locations around the world with his wife Joni, hiking sometimes 20 kilometres to an inaccessible region and working with impossible patience. He has visited a location for eight days to capture just the right light, waiting long periods for the rain to stop, the wind to still, the fog to lift. For his current tree series, Steven visited the same stands of trees in autumn four consecutive years.
Lecturing at workshops, Steven relays his passion to amateur landscape photographers, encouraging them to seek the untouched and unique natural world through thoughtful composition and the magic of beautiful light.
In 2000, Steven published his first limited edition fine art book entitled “Steven Friedman Landscapes”, printing each plate, and hand binding the embossed book.
Currently, he is working on a fine art book for global distribution, which draws on his passion for panoramic tree photographs, the format from which he feels he naturally views the world.
Steven’s photographs have been published in international magazines and recognized with significant achievement awards such as the 2007 International Photography Awards in which he placed first and second as Professional Photographer of the Year in the Nature category and was awarded four Honourable Mentions. In the 2008 International Photography Awards, he placed second as Professional Photographer of the Year in the Nature category, winning five Honourable Mentions. That same year, he placed third as Professional Photographer of the Year in the Nature category in the Prix de La Photographie Paris (Px3), winning four Honourable Mentions. Steven is a 2009 and 2016 Finalist in the prestigious Hasselblad Masters Awards in the Landscape/Nature category. Also, in 2009, Steven won a second in the Professional Photographer Nature Category International Photography Awards and three Honourable Mentions. In 2010, Steven won a second prize at the Prix de La Photographie Paris (Px3) and a first prize at the International Photography Awards.
Steven exhibits his work in fine art galleries in North America and Europe. An early adopter of digital fine art pigment printers, Steven has been printing his work since the inception of digital printers. Steven considers himself to be a purist; his approach is to capture untouched natural beauty with a large and medium format camera. He does not believe in any manipulation of his images. All of Steven’s images are full frame from the camera and are not cropped. Steven personally prints images to create a true sense of awe with his viewers. His latest collection of panoramic tree images are mounted on aluminum and measuring over 90 inches in width. In addition to printing his own fine art photographic work, Steven is considered a master fine art printer, working with discerning artists who seek the finest quality results.
When Steven found the SLR camera that autumn day, he also found his greatest life passion, which he feels fortunate to be able to pursue every day.