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Wynn Bullock – Color Light Abstractions
Wynn Bullock (1902-1975) was born in Chicago and raised in South Pasadena, California. His boyhood passions were athletics and singing. The latter became his first career, and it was not until he was giving concerts in Europe in the mid-1920s that he became intrigued with the visual arts. He bought himself a simple box camera and began taking pictures. Photography remained a hobby, however, until 1938 when he enrolled in the Los Angeles Art Center School. There he concentrated his efforts in experimental imagery. Three years later, his work was showcased in one of the early solo photography exhibitions at the L.A. County Museum of Art.
Shortly after World War II, Wynn moved his family to the Monterey Peninsula where he had obtained the photographic concession at Fort Ord. Although Wynn earned a good living as a commercial photographer, it was in his personal work that he found his greatest fulfillment.
A major turning point in Wynn’s life as a creative photographer occurred in 1948 when he met Edward Weston and began to explore “straight” photography for himself. Throughout the decade of the 50’s, Wynn devoted himself to developing his own vision, establishing deep, direct connections with nature in and around the Central Coast of California. A lifelong learner, he also read widely in the areas of physics, General Semantics, philosophy, psychology, eastern religion, and art. Studying the work of such people as Albert Einstein, Lao Tzu, and Paul Klee, he kept evolving his own dynamic system of principles and concepts that both reflected and nurtured his creative journey. In the mid-1950s, two of his photographs were included in the famous Family of Man exhibition and his reputation as a master photographer spread worldwide.
During the early sixties, Wynn departed from black and white imagery and produced a body of work he referred to as “color light abstractions.” For him, these photographs represented an in-depth exploration of light, manifesting his belief that light is a great force at the heart of all being, “perhaps,” as he said, “the most profound truth in the universe.”
By the mid-60’s, Wynn was ready to explore the mysteries of light and life from new perspectives. Finding the means to more fully evoke the essence of things was a key part of his quest. Although he used long time exposures and multiple images as well as up-side-down and negative printing in his repertoire of techniques, each was always used in the service of symbolizing new ways of relating to and knowing the world.
In the early 70’s, Wynn embarked on a new leg of his photographic journey, one that was cut short by incurable cancer. Many of his photographs from that period reveal light emanating from within the heart of things, life glowing and pulsing with energy and vitality. Other photographs are of natural forms that depict or suggest universal human qualities, humanity “deeply embedded in” and re-united with nature.
As a master photographer, Wynn was one of five artists whose archives established the University of Arizona’s Center for Creative Photography. His work may also be found in the permanent collections of over 90 major institutions throughout the world as well as in numerous publications.
The podcast below is an interview of Brett Abbott, recorded in 2014 during the High Museum Exhibition, Wynn Bullock: Revelations (June 2014 – January 2015).
SELECT HERE to link to the official Wynn Bullock web page.
The work of Wynn Bullock is featured in these exhibitions.
(Select the image to view the exhibition page)
The Color Of Light
Designed By Nature
Solstice Selections
Silicon To Silver
Wynn Bullock’s Color Light Abstractions are featured in these Theme Collections.
(Select the image to view the theme page)
Abstraction – Color
Studies of Light – Color
Wynn Bullock: Photographer
Wynn Bullock:Photographer.
Bullock Lecture at the High Museum - 6/19/14
California College of the Arts professor and photographer Chris Johnson presented an artistic and personal look into Wynn Bullock’s photos and philosophies. Johnson gave an illustrated perspective on the scope of Bullock’s work, from his experiments with alternative processes to his nudes, landscapes, nature studies, tableaux, and color abstractions. Join us for an evening of reflection on Bullock’s processes from an artist’s perspective.
Bullock Cunningham and Partridge featured in Arizona exhibitons
Photographs from four Lumière artists are featured in the two different exhibitions in October in the Phoenix Arizona area. Art Intersection (Gilbert AZ) opened its exhibition: Lineage and Legacy – Bullock and Cunningham, September 7 – October 27, 2013. Presenting the work of Wynn Bullock and Imogen Cunningham, two of the most beloved figures of West Coast photography in the 20th century. Their iconoclastic approach to the medium inspired future generations of photographers well into the 21st century, including members of their own families. The work of Edna Bullock, wife of Wynn, and Rondal Partridge, son of Imogen, important photographers in their own right, are on display as well.
On view September 10 – October 5, 2013 at the Northlight Gallery on the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe was the exhibition: Wynn Bullock Color Light Abstractions. Featuring the experimental color photographs of Bullock that he produced in the early 1960s.
Wynn Bullock - Book Publishing
We are pleased to post this “new” video featuring, Wynn Bullock and Dave Bohn of Scrimshaw Press. They describe the collaborative interaction behind the production of Wynn Bullock (The Scrimshaw Press, Publication No. 8). Both also discuss the importance of book publishing for photographers. This interview, conducted by Steve James of the Eikon Gallery (Monterey CA), is shown here for the first time since its initial airing in 1971.
Wynn Bullock at Palm Beach Photographic Centre
Wynn Bullock: Insight and Surprises
March 21 – June 9, 2012
Palm Beach Photographic Centre
415 Clematis Street, West Palm Beach FL
Wynn Bullock, a mid-twentieth century master photographer, is widely know for his evocative black and white work. From 1959-1964, he also created a significant body of color work he called “Color Light Abstractions”, first exhibited at Lumiere in June of 2009.
The Palm Beach exhibition featured 44 of these beautiful and innovative images, as well as a selection of Bullock’s classic black & white work, further details can be found at the Centre’s web site. An article from the Palm Beach Daily News from March 25, 2012 provides an overview of the exhibition.
Explore additional assets on the Lumière web site; an artist gallery of Color Light Abstraction (64 images), wide selection of Bullock Estate Prints, and a Lumiere Video featuring commentary by Dr. Britt Salvesen on the significance of this ground breaking work.
Wynn Bullock - In Carmel California
Wynn Bullock’s Color Light Abstractions were on view in 2010 at the Center for Photographic Art in Carmel California. They were shown for the first time at Lumière in June of 2009, featured in The Color of Light.
Bullock (1902-1975), known for his 
innovative, creative images was an explorer of the qualities of light… from light drawings to photograms to solarization. He was fascinated with the endless possibilities of light as a living form and force in its own right rather than simply as an illuminator representing objects as they are normally perceived. He executed this important color work in the early 60’s.
With the advent of modern color printing technologies we are now able to view these images created nearly 50 years ago. Bullock’s descendants are continuing to add to this innovative and captivating body of work. His artist page has been updated to include additional images not seen in 2009, and a video of Dr. Britt Salvesen comments on the importance and historical context of this innovative work that was truly ahead of its time.
Wynn Bullock:Photographer.
We are pleased to post this “new” video featuring, Wynn Bullock and Dave Bohn of Scrimshaw Press. They describe the collaborative interaction behind the production of Wynn Bullock (The Scrimshaw Press, Publication No. 8). Both also discuss the importance of book publishing for photographers. This interview, conducted by Steve James of the Eikon Gallery (Monterey CA), is shown here for the first time since its initial airing in 1971.
James, along with his wife Sue James were owners and operators of the Eikon Gallery in Monterey California in the early 1970’s.
14:10 – video length
View all 14 interviews in the Eikon Series
