Biography
With the exception of a few years in New York City, I have lived in New Mexico since I moved to Albuquerque in 1980 to attend graduate school at the University of New Mexico. I was born and raised in Excelsior, Minnesota, a small lakeside community outside Minneapolis. I came to the southwest via California, where I received a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. Besides my undergraduate studies, I also worked as an assistant for the Friends of Photography, and the Ansel Adams Photography Workshops. At the workshops, I worked with many pivotal photographers, who were (are) responsible for blazing the trail of what defines photography today.
After completing my graduate studies in the mid 1980’s, I came around to working odd jobs in film and television production. Having a way with food, I started out catering production meals, and worked as an assistant to a food stylist. I tried my hand at everything from the wardrobe department to location scouting, ultimately working as a 2nd assistant director. Observing directors working with actors and actresses had a profound influence upon me. As a photographer, I began to act like a director, pulling emotion and drama out my subjects, giving them motivation. My pictures took on the look of film stills, full of tension, as if the other shoe was about to drop.
I have taught and lectured at institutions including: The University of Michigan Ann Arbor, The University of New Mexico Taos and Albuquerque campuses, Texas Tech, and The International Center for Photography.
Since 1990, I have created commissioned photographic works for the editorial and advertising industry. My clientele includes national and international magazines and corporations. Over the years, I have developed a personal appreciation for each genre, and have been able to synthesize them both without sacrificing my personal integrity as an artist.
My photographs have been exhibited in galleries and museums nationally and internationally, and are in numerous permanent collections, such as, Los Angeles County Museum, Arizona State University Art Museum, Musee Nicephore Niepce in Paris, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Santa Fe.
DANIEL PEEBLES