"For over a half century I have devoted my life to exploring the possibilities of the photographic image." — Bill Davis
Bill Davis
Opening reception
August 4, 2023, 4:00-7:00 p.m.
August 1-14 by appointment only
575-776-2284
Photographer Bill Davis is a true "Living Master," having pursued a life in photography since the early 1960s. Throughout those years he developed his art, first in color, then for over 45 years he created images in black and white. Now, after years of frustration at not being able to make color prints with the same aesthetic qualities as his black and white work, Bill has found that the new digital technologies allow him to craft his color work with the same care he used in the darkroom. The quality inkjet print allows him to produce stunningly beautiful archival prints with many of the same characteristics as other art works on paper.
His life-long devotion to the art and craft of photography has raised his work to the highest levels, reflected by the fact that his work is in a number of public collections. These include the Harwood Museum in Taos, the Albuquerque Museum of Art, Yale University and the NM State Archives. His portfolio of toned portraits of New Mexico mental health patients, La Gente de la Sangre, was the recipient of a purchase award by the prestigious Martin Foundation For The Creative Arts. And in 2013 he was given the Distinguished Achievement Award as the recipient of the Mildred Talbot Photography Award at the 39th Annual Fall Arts Festival.
A true artist and innovator who has eschewed labels, he has mastered various photographic techniques in addition to making striking images of New Mexico and the Southwest. His work is what it is precisely because for over 50 years he has allowed his rapport with the photographic medium always to be his guide. He has been exhibiting in the Fall Arts Invitational since 1995 and twice has been a recipient of the Photography Award. In 1999 his photographic image Moonrise Over Double Mountain was selected as the poster image for the Spring Arts Celebration, marking the first time a photograph was used on an arts festival poster in Taos. In 2004 he had a one-person show at the Harwood Museum in Taos, NM, in the museum's Foster Gallery For Works On Paper.