Scott Stillman

Scott Stillman is a photographer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Expressing himself with both film and digital captures, his work ranges from traditional landscapes to abstract pinhole photographs featuring themes of patterns and motion. Stillman's pinhole photographs have been included in exhibitions at the Mpls Photo Center, Edina Art Center and the André Malraux Cultural Centre in Le Bourget, France.

"When I held an SLR for the first time at the age of 13 and smelled the wonderful aroma of lens cleaning solution, I was mesmerized by the mechanics of the camera and the beauty it could ca...

Scott Stillman is a photographer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Expressing himself with both film and digital captures, his work ranges from traditional landscapes to abstract pinhole photographs featuring themes of patterns and motion. Stillman's pinhole photographs have been included in exhibitions at the Mpls Photo Center, Edina Art Center and the André Malraux Cultural Centre in Le Bourget, France.

"When I held an SLR for the first time at the age of 13 and smelled the wonderful aroma of lens cleaning solution, I was mesmerized by the mechanics of the camera and the beauty it could capture. Ever since those early magical times with a Minolta XG-1, I have had a desire to make images. Since then, I have shot underwater, on mountain summits, political events, city streets, dining rooms, law firms and more. Lately, I have found myself drawn to older film cameras and classic formats like 4x5, 6x7, and the square 6x6. Also, I have found that a box made of foam core and black tape or a 1950's Speed Graphic with a pinhole stuck on the front of it can yield wonderful images."

One of Stillman's photographs was recently included in a new pinhole photography how-to book called The Pinhole Camera. Three of his photographs were selected for the next volume of Lumina, the annual literary journal of the Sarah Lawrence College graduate program in writing and will be available April, 2011.

Scott's thoughts on pinhole photography:
"I think my favorite image concept is the combination of static and random elements, whether it is an urban street with solid buildings and people in motion, or a stream with static rocks and the foamy patterns of moving water. This combination of elements: the predictable and the random, makes shooting pinhole photography an intellectual exercise of trying to imagine something that can’t be seen in real time."

Some of Stillman's final prints are from digital captures, others are from film that has been scanned, processed and printed. A few prints are still printed in a traditional darkroom. Thanks for looking!