Brian DeWolf thinks of himself as a photographer more so than an artist. But, if creating landscape images that evoke strong feeling is an art, he could be considered a photographic artist. Whatever label is attached to his work, it gets attention and has nostalgic appeal.

"The Fox Valley (mainly the Illinois river towns of Geneva, Batavia, and St. Charles), has been my home for more than 30 years. I made a project of photographing this area simply to develop photographic skill. When we're in unfamiliar surroundings, such as a vacation, pictures seem to be everywhere so it seemed a practical exercise to develop a “photographic eye” in my own back yard. We need not travel far to experience the way light falls seductively upon subjects. Striking scenes are everywhere. After all, photographing is the process of selection and isolating a subject in favorable light. It’s a mental exercise that can be done anywhere.”

And judges for Professional Photographers of America (PPA) agreed that he became skillful. A number of Brian’s photographs have been "merited" in international competition. His image of a bicyclist crossing the fog-shrouded bridge over the Fox River earned a place in PPA's LOAN COLLECTION for 2002. Marathon Press, publisher of the LOAN COLLECTION book describes this array of images as the "best of the best" from over 8,000 entries entered in international competition. More of Brian's photographs have been selected for PPA's General Showcase Collections.  A summary appears on the Recognition page.

Brian grew up in Wheaton, IL. He attended McKendree College in Lebanon, IL and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology. He sold hardware for his father's business in the 1970's and was a policeman in St. Charles, IL from 1979 until his retirement as a sergeant in May of 2000. He began photographing with a relic Mamiya 35mm camera and two lenses right after graduating in 1971. As time permitted, he photographed landscapes on sales trips around the Midwest. "I might have been a traffic hazard. I was always watching cloud formations and scenery as I drove."

"We filter everything we see and hear. We unwittingly isolate parts of a scene that get our attention and ignore others. That's one reason our photographs can disappoint us when we see the print. The camera records it all. A disappointing photograph can be the result of clutter in the scene that should have been omitted. Or maybe the light didn’t compliment the subject"

"I rarely shoot spontaneously. I’m a plodder and a planner for the most part and, as photographer David Plowden said, 'stalk photographs like a heron.' I don't photograph for sensation. Mood motivates me. Sometimes I choose a subject and wait for good light and scout for best angles. Other times I shoot based upon instinct. Either way, I think about the lighting and search the viewfinder for distracting objects. And I especially like black and white images. They are abstract and, in their own way, strengthen relationships between forms, textures, lines, and shapes. But if color holds an emotion, I'll use it."

"The past intrigues me and can hold sentiment. I hope viewers get a feeling of the past, or a sense that our present quickly becomes locked away forever. Most people want to hold unchanged that which is interesting or gives them joy. It might be a flower, brown and brittle, that was tucked between the pages of a book to remind you of a walk on a bright, clean May morning. Or maybe it's a letter, with pages tearing at the folds, written by one whose voice you can no longer hear or whose hand you can no longer touch. If my photography can evoke something like this, it has done its job."

Brian's business and artistic philosophy is simple; make the best images possible with the highest quality materials. When Brian was in sales, he saw some fine companies violate their customers' trust. "They had good products, but they wanted more profit. Instead of maintaining the quality that earned their customer's trust, they chose to cut costs. “Sure, there's a market for products of lesser integrity, but I didn't want to be part of it. I don't ever want dissatisfied clients to be figured into the cost of doing business."

Brian DeWolf is a member of Professional Photographers of America.and the Fox Valley Arts Council.

Brian is also a Patient Volunteer for Fox Valley Hospice. This organization assists persons with life threatening illnesses, and their families. It receives no government funding and is supported entirely by the donations of generous people and businesses.