Robert Welkie

I was born in Logan, Utah, lived for a short time in England, and then returned to Logan.  From there I went to Tucson, Arizona, and then to Los Angeles.

While in the Photography Department at the University of Arizona, I studied under Harold Jones, Todd Walker, Judith Golden, Lew Thomas, and Louis Carlos Bernal. Tucson at the time nurtured a rich environment for revolutions in how we thought about photography. The masters and the revolutionaries visited Tucson. At the Center for Creative Photography (CCP) in Tucson, I sat across a table from Ansel Adams--just him and me. I can't remember much about what I asked or what he said. His kindness and encouragement cannot be forgotten.

The images in the archives of the CCP at that time were open for viewing to anyone off the street if they knew enough to ask.  The first ones I saw where Edward Weston prints. And then I went through the catalog from beginning to end.  Before I ever started going to school, I had an education that could not be rivaled.  I arrived at the right time, at the right moment, at the right place. That seems simple.

Nothing is simple. I diverted into filmmaking, into the entertainment industry.  I diverted into the business of art. Because I lived with a painter, the house only had room for one artist. The recession of 2008 changed the business of art back to art. I am thankful for the changes that came with demolishment.  I was never a real businessman, but I played one for the entertainment industry and did a good job.

Now I am making images again, as I was meant to. Â They seem important and significant.