David Edmonson - 2016 AIPP Overseas Photographer of the Year

It's an unbelievable honor because I feel like our fellow AIPP members are like an extension of our family. The level of photography that comes from Australia is such high quality that I consider it to be the Gold Standard of creativity. This year it is particularly special to attend in person and see first-hand the quality of the organization. The entire judging process is very well run, and the caliber of craftsmanship is inspirational.

David Edmonson is called a “Master Photographer to Master Photographers” and with good reason. With a lifetime spent impacting the industry, the indelible impact David Edmonson leaves with clients, students and peers around the world is remarkable. No doubt, his signature style is unmistakable. But it’s his “Iron-Sharpens-Iron” philosophy that has fueled his art and professional success. A relentless pursuit of excellence through competition. Selfless mentorship. A hands-on benevolence with his passionate charities. Simply put, the “Edmonson Way” means that giving is a both a privilege and a path to self-improvement; for himself and those he encounters.

This past August, as a member of the Australian Institute of Professional Photography, David won the Overseas Photographer of the Year in the APPA competition for the 2nd year in a row. His son, photographer Luke Edmonson, previously won the International Photographer of the Year in 2014 making a total of 3 years in a row for winning this award for their studio. At the SWPP print competition in London in January of 2016, David gained multiple awards including the 20x16 Overall Winner with a perfect scoring print of 100. While there, both David & Luke successfully earned their Fellowships from the Societies with both panels passing unanimously.

Later in March, he received 1st Place in the Portrait Division Group category at the WPPI 16x20 Competition is Las Vegas. David is recognized as a Triple Master of WPPI and also the recipient of the 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award, the organizations highest honor. Professional Photographers of America recognizes David as Master of Photography (M. PHOTOG) and Photographic Craftsman (CR. PHOTOG) among other honored designations. He is a multi-year PPA Diamond Photographer of the Year, a three-time winner of both the Kodak Gallery Awards and Fuji Masterpiece Awards as well as the Canon Par Excellence Award. David is a member of the Cameracraftsman of America, one of the oldest, most prestigious groups in the world dedicated to advancing the profession of photography as an art form.

The Edmonson's are sought-after speakers and educators locally, nationally and abroad, teaching workshops to the up and coming aspiring photographer, to share their talent and know-how to help others hone their craft. They are print judges at various international print competitions and previously served as President of the Dallas Professional Photographers Association. It’s often said that Art Imitates Life. If you’ve ever seen the work of David Edmonson, this is clearly true: “Profound with dimensionality, ingrained with emotion and compelling in their beauty." …This is the Edmonson Way.

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David Edmonson - Part of a continuing study of Degas with a desire to tell a story about young women transitioning to the next season of their life. Here they are backstage looking on with perhaps a bit of nervousness and excitement. It's about last-minute preparations before they have their opportunity to join the Prima ballerina on the main stage.

David Edmonson -Noted American realist painter Edward Hopper was born in New York and descended from Dutch heritage which dovetails nicely with my appreciation for the Dutch masters. The style of American realism is unique in that it focused on the everyday life of average people at the turn of the 20th century. It's influence reached far beyond painting into the worlds of literature and music. One of the things I admire about Hopper's work is his belief that art can be an outward expression of the inner life of the artist. As a bit of a solitary individual, most of his painting featured single figures within their environment but could also include larger groupings. Two of his painting that inspired me are his Room in New York, 1932 that shows a man reading a newspaper while the woman is sitting at the piano. They seem engrossed in their worlds and detached from each other. Another one that symbolizes this idea of a distance between two people is Cape Cod Evening, 1939. In a man sits on his stoop of their porch looking down while the woman contemplates her fate and the dog plays in a grassy field. There is a lack of emotional connection between the two, and it speaks to the idea of all of us becoming self-absorbed in today's society. This concept is not a literal interpretation of one of Hopper's existing works but a combination of the tones, storylines, and relationships he depicted. I was inspired by his use of simple color schemes and props to tell the story. He used warm colors in his famous Diner painting, and I wanted to bring your eye in using the warmth of the yellow drawing your eye into the red. A woman sits on the bed smoking a cigarette, in detached frustration, while her man is more enamored with the photo on the mirror. The man is in love with Rita Hayworth, a famous actress during that period, On the mirror written in red lipstick are the words,

David Edmonson - Having been taught by my mentor how to intentionally study the masters down to the smallest brushstroke, one of the first steps is to recreate from memory an existing piece of work. Once you have learned the nuances behind how and why they painted or created the way they did, then you start to introduce new works in the style of their handiwork. Vermeer did this painting of a milkmaid and what was important to me is to show how a woman can take something like bread that is getting stale and breathe life into it by turning it into something new like bread pudding.

David Edmonson - This image is of a man studying with his pipe. The smoke is pouring from his pipe. I wanted to show the contrast of his studying far into the night. He was diligent in his pursuits. I also wanted to display the smoke, because I had become more and more convinced that life is much like a vapor that appears, rises and spreads, and disappears all too quickly. More specifically I wanted to tell my children to be careful with their leisure time. There’s nothing wrong with leisure time, but it moves just like a vapor – disappears so quickly - so think twice about everything that you do. I can see a little bit of a Rembrandt feel here, but Vermeer also did this kind of lighting. Rembrandt used typically warm tones or gray tones. A man I met that I would never have spent time with in the World is the model here. We just were opposites, and I felt sad to have that impression of him, so I made a point to get to know him and found out that we had a lot in common. He’s a nervous, twitchy fellow who can’t stand still for five seconds while you were talking to him and yet he ended up being a truly excellent model.