I have never met Per before but heard a lot a good things about him. An exceptionaly dedicated photographer and photography instructor. A big loss to our LF community and we will miss you. I will pray for your journey .
PS: Thanks Mat & Jim for letting me know about him.
Oh no! This is a huge loss. I took 4 workshops with Per ... and had to cancel my 1-on-1 "internship" last summer because of my wife's illness.
The goal of that internship was not to learn printing or technique but to move around with Per to attempt to see how he saw ... to spend a week going to inauspicious places looking for photographs ... to try to learn something about how he viewed his surroundings. I always thought he had an extraordinary sense of "seeing" and I wanted to try to get some little bit of insight into how he did it.
He was such a gracious teacher and critic ... he inspired by his commitment to the craft and to the image ... and he did it without ego.
I am so happy for him that his work had so recently received so much critical and financial success in his trips to China.
I'll keep a special sense in my viewing when I'm out shooting because of his influence.
Here's a portrait ... very soft-focus ... the only one I've taken of Per ... so it should go here ... somehow the very soft-focus seems most appropriate now:
Jim, well said. Nice image of Per. Very well done.
I am stunned by the news of Per's death. He was a good friend and mentor. We corresponded last week, and we planned to meet again in August. He was totally silent about any critical health problems. Per taught me how to develop film, and he always amazed me with his ability to work tirelessly in the darkroom. It seemed to me that deep concentration and the anticipation of a new image were enough to power Per forward late into the night. I still can't believe this --a sad day for me and photography. God Bless you Per.
I just got home from a long day at work and saw the threads here and on APUG. I just can't believe our friend is gone...
I met Per almost 5 years ago during a Joshua Tree get together. He was an amazing teacher, friend, artist and mentor. He always had an encouraging word and always gave of himself. He was also my neighbor, living only 15 minutes away and his door was always open. His printing parties at Christmas always filled his house with dozens of people...Jim Fitzgerald would be in one room printing carbon, while Tori Nelson, Matt Blais or Dan Dozer would be making platinum prints in another, Domenico Foschi would bring an incredible frittata for everyone to nibble on, everyone would bring their latest prints to show...it was unlike any gathering I've ever seen. All the photographers that I have met in Southern California, I met through Per. I will miss him immensely...this hole in all of his friends lives will never be filled. He was that special...
...Per was the one who showed us the way. The world has lost a visionary.
With deepest sympathies.
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"We work in the dark, we do what we can, we give what we have."
Henry James
I'm saddened to hear about Per Volquartz... I've seen his work online and regret that I never met him... but his spirit and Art live on.
To quote Dylan Thomas, "Though they sink through the sea they shall Rise Again...", from Death Shall Have No Dominion.
(Thomas' own reading can be heard at: http://plexipages.com/reflections/nodomin.wav )
Oh My. This is the saddest news in a long time for me.
I never met Per in person -he missed the APUG meeting a couple of years ago, here in Denmark.
But we had plans of meeting in january next year where he planned a big exhibition here...
We "talked" quite a lot on facebook chat, and I am really going to miss him. He was so full of respect and humor - the fact we never met seemed unimportant for those talks. I was hounored he wanted to use time with me.
Hvil i Fred, kære Per.
I met Per three years ago at a small workshop he gave at Sidestreets, an artist based non-profit in Pasadena. The workshop was lighting for painters who wanted to document their work using simple cameras. A 'painter' friend of mine was in town so I invited her to the workshop. I was immediately struck by Per's generous and kind nature and his ability to connect with everyone and share knowledge.
I took one of his private printing workshop and it blew my mind, completely changed the way I worked and thought about making work.
We became friends and when, last year I lost my darkroom Per made his available to me whenever he could. Which was not so often,he worked tirelessly.
I attended a number of his 'in the field' workshops and there are countless times of truly inspiring moments with him when my mind and eyes would open wide to the world.
He was a good friend and an amazing teacher and mentor. I will miss him, I do miss him. Per's passing is a huge loss to the photographic world.
My condolences to Becky, Christian and to his close friends of which there are many.
I missed the chance to attend one of Per's workshops a few years ago where he and Jim Galli were offering their talents. I wasn't able to make it...my loss. Rest in peace, sir. Thoughts and prayers to Per's family. He will be missed.
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