Artist Bio
Widely regarded as one of the finest photographic artists of his generation, Larry Kanfer has a remarkable ability to identify what people love about a place, and convey that in two dimensions. Recognized for his attention to subtle details and ability to "conjure up images that are uniquely and distinctly American" (Washington Post), Larry Kanfer "endows the ordinary landscape with an almost magical sense of beauty" (Associated Press). ARTNews compares Kanfer's gift to the sensitivity and eye of Ansel Adams and Eliot Porter. Most known for his Prairiescapes, other collections include European, Coast-to-coast and cityscapes images.
To date, five critically acclaimed collections of Kanfer images have been published: the classic Prairiescapes (University of Illinois Press, 1987, now in its 7th printing), On This Island (Viking Studio Books, 1990) On Second Glance (1992, University of Illinois Press) and Postcards from the Prairie (1996) and the recently released On Firm Ground (2002, University of Illinois Press) In addition, each year for over a decade 12 new Larry Kanfer images are highlighted in the award-winning Prairiescapes Calendar.
Larry Kanfer was born in St. Louis in 1956. He spent his childhood in Portland, Oregon admiring the rugged visual contrasts of the Northwest landscape. When his family moved back to the Midwest he explored the rich traditions and seasonal cycles of the prairie. From this experience Kanfer often takes an outsider's perspective to capture the essence of a place, blending it with a sense of familiarity that is evident in many of his images. Immediately after graduating from the University of Illinois with a degree in architecture, Kanfer opened his first photography gallery and studio in Champaign, IL in 1980. Since that time he has traveled throughout the US and Europe.
Artist Statement
When someone looks at one of my photographs, I hope it evokes some emotion... a sense of personal history, a sense of the land being worked, a sense of the fullness of time.
As a photographic artist, I try to celebrate the subtle details of human existence and daily routines that often are overlooked . Why? Because I feel that it is the generations of lifecycles intertwined with the land that create meaning, beauty and richness all around us. While on the surface, the landscape may appear barren, beneath the surface, I see layers and layers of human efforts nurturing each other and the landscape to exist in concert with the whims of nature. And in my photography, I try to capture a moment that also alludes to these cycles and layers.
