Robert Bolla
Today’s Webster Arts’ Member Spotlight features Bob Bolla, biologist and photographer. Bob writes, “Since an early age I have used photography to record the ‘history’ of an event, tell a story and store a memory. My interest continued through my academic career as a biologist where I used photography in teaching and research; it has followed me into retirement where I now use photography to challenge the viewer to see the relationship between arts and science in the natural world….” An ethnographic and street photographer, Bob has traveled widely to capture images that define a culture, focusing on how people live in their particular world and culture. Using both candid and posed photographs, Bob tells the story of their everyday life. Additionally, Bob’s experience as a scientist draws him to natural landscapes that prompt the viewer to see how science and art interface.
Bob is a self-taught photographer, with some mentoring in film photography and darkroom manipulations. Today, Bob primarily works in digital photography, working in the digital darkroom to “develop” the image. Bob says, “Software lets me make post-processing manipulation with more ease than in the days of film and the darkroom. For cultural photographs, I frequently use gold tone or orotype prints, adapted from archival imaging of the early 1900’s. I also use digital painting to enhance images where it aids the story.”
Bob has shown his work in solo exhibits at St. Louis Artists’ Guild, Bradley University, EuroBiotech Conference (Poznan, Poland), Renaissance Hotel (St. Louis Lambert Airport), St. Charles Arts Council Lillian Yahn Gallery, and Peoria Artist Guild, and currently the LightSpaceTime online gallery. Curated exhibits include the International Photographic Hall of Fame and Museum, Commerce Bank and Des Peres Hospital. Bob is a featured artist at Camelback Gallery and Artist of the Month in Gallery Ring online galleries, where his work has been selected for Artist of the Month competitions.
Bob’s digital painting, A Hard Way to Make a Buck, is on display in Webster Arts’ current show, Art & Soul. You can see more of Bob’s work at https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/robert-bolla.
