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 San Francisco Art Institute
How a black-and-white purist makes an ordinary scene extraordinary.
The silent beauty of the world drives my photography,” says Hendrik Paul, a 28-year-old graduate student at the San Francisco Art Institute. “I grew up in a very natural environment, so I want not only to capture images of my surroundings but also to convey complexity, loneliness, melancholy, and peacefulness to the viewer.”
Having learned a lot about the medium from his father, Paul prefers traditional, film-based photographic techniques. “I use black and white to underscore my desire for simplicity,” says the photographer, who usually shoots with a Mamiya 7II medium-format rangefinder on Fuji’s Neopan Acros 100 or Kodak Tri-X film. “I rely mostly on natural light, in certain cases with filters on the lens. I’ve found that an ordinary scene can become extraordinary through careful composition and technique—exposure, development, and printing.”
A graduate of Providence College, in Rhode Island, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in studio art, Paul draws on his experience in design, drawing, painting, printmaking, and ceramics. But his main focus has always been on photography. “My wish to make a living as a fine-art photographer started in an eighth-grade photo class,” says Paul, who plans to continue in the Art Institute’s MFA program.
Paul lived and traveled in Europe for three years, which gave him the opportunity to visit and photograph many monasteries and churches. “It opened a deep fascination with old religious sites,” he says. “I would love to photograph a continuing series of religious places around the world.” Visit hendrikpaul.com.
—Jack Crager
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