COMPANY PROFILE
Horizon Image Group ("HIG"), a fine art photography company formed in 1996, showcases the landscape and seascape compositions of Michael McAreavy (aka Lightchaser).
ARTIST PROFILE - MICHAEL McAREAVY
Born June 5, 1962 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Michael McAreavy is an art photographer living in Los Angeles, California. He has been photographing landscapes across the American West since 1990.
ARTIST STATEMENT - MICHAEL McAREAVY
Enamored by natural light nearly my entire life, I have been photographing landscapes and seascapes since 1990. When light, line, and shadow form a perfect union, my spirit comes alive. To this day (2011), I still prefer to work my craft with a slow manual medium format film camera. You may ask--- Why? Considering "photograph" in Latin means "to write with light," I interpret camera bodies, lenses, digital sensors, film, etc. as being merely tools of the trade. You could say that working with film on the front end of the photographic process ('front end' meaning composition creation in the field) fits my "writing style." I simply have a greater appreciation for film's recordation tendencies than I do for the digital camera quest to make it "110% perfect." How film "sees what's in front of it" has long been half the joy for me---- flaws, inabilities, idiosyncrasies and all. This by no means should be interpreted as an argument against digital technology. Quite the contrary. Modern day digital technology is incredible. However, in my case, I prefer to marvel over "digital capacity" only after reaching the print preparation stage. Color and contrast control is out of this world. Guess you could say I am both old and new school.
Here is a little that has been said about Michael McAreavy:
"These are the sparest outlines of the life and work of Ansel Adams that serve as an inspiration to photographer, Michael McAreavy. McAreavy is quick to point out that he didn’t pick up a camera until fully embarked on a career in the financial services industry. Reading the bio that he provided, I frankly thought it a tad presumptuous to claim such a titan as a model. Then I looked at his work. A profound respect for the land is implicit in each composition. Rugged terrain and dramatic sweeps of mountains and coastline mirror the artist’s admiration for Adams. McAreavy, however, clearly stakes out his own aesthetic territory in his images. Subjects are framed with an acute eye, and the viewer is compelled to wonder how far and how long did the artist need to go and to wait to capture that specific moment. Ultimately, I find that McAreavy is an enormously generous artist. Not unlike his hero, Ansel Adams, Michael McAreavy’s work is so passionately, impeccably executed that its power transcends the individual artist to celebrate the grandeur of his subject." -Priscilla Steele, Fine artist and co-owner of Campbell Steele Gallery
"Being the work of a human being, it's not perfect." -Anonymous
"Each one of Michael's images is a gem, carefully carved from land and light. You know an accomplished photographer when you see one. They aren't just pretty pictures of pretty places... I can tell each one has its own story, its own adventure. It would seem the light chases Michael, rather than him chasing the light... but I know better. His images seem timeless and effortless and have the same well-thought-out quality that I see in images from Galen Rowell. They are beautiful. You definitely have to chase light to come away with these kinds of gems." -Brian Ernst, Photographer and Videographer