About Mike Hoogendyk
Mike Hoogendyk is retired from the financial industry and resides in Phoenix, AZ. Although he has taken photographs all his life, for the past ten years he has concentrated mainly on large format photography in the Southwest. His schooling has involved college level photographic training and workshops with the likes of Randy Efros, Rod Klukas, John Sexton, Michael A. Smith and Paula Chamlee. A member of the Phoenix area large format photography society, Imageworks, he currently photographs with an ARCA-Swiss 4 X 5 field camera and travels throughout the field in his Jeep Wrangler
Photographer's Statement:
“People travel through time without really pausing to closely observe the environment through which they are passing. Such lack of “seeing” is impossible for me. Each turn in the path brings new sights and sounds – all of which seem vibrantly alive, full of detail and important to understand. Photography gives me the opportunity to record those moments which, when even more closely examined at a later date, continue to offer new clues as to their origin, existence, content, beauty and purpose. Photography allows me to share those sights with others who weren’t there to enjoy them the first time. If one can capture those images and portray them in an acceptably artistic manner, their communication then imparts a higher-level esthetic feeling to the shared images. There are no hidden meanings or messages – only the emotions to be felt by those observing the image, and the emotions differ from individual to individual.”