“Artists seem to like my work more than photographers do,” quips Eric Saunders, who lives and creates in Fearrington Village. Saunders’ images appear to represent the literal meaning of photography – drawing with light. “My studio is actually wherever I am taking pictures,” he notes. “I am trying to create compositions that are calming and offer a peaceful mood. “I hope that people look at my pictures and take some time with them. I hope that they feel something and think about those feelings.”
Saunders’ sensibility has evolved from his early love and training in music. “Music produces a visceral response in people. It is an abstraction of tones. In my art, as in music, I don’t want the accompaniment to drown out the melody.” Eric attended Yale University and earned a master’s degree in piano performance. “I recognized that I was not going to make a living with my music. I had to learn computer programming and information technology. It was always just a paycheck.”
This coding career actually led him to photography. “I had just moved to California, and had empty walls. I went to a poster store and it hit me that I could make photographs just as good. So I got started. I took some photographs to work and my coworkers liked them too.”
Eric began to gain more photographic skills. “I took courses through an extension program at UC Cal-Berkeley. Photography would become a satisfying hobby for years.” In 2007, after retiring from programming, he dedicated himself full time to his art. When digital technology was developed he embraced it immediately. “Digital photography allowed me to create more professional images. With film, I had good composition but not as much control. Now I have great control over my entire creative process, even archival printing.”
“I am always looking for unusual light and color, form and line. I have traveled to many exotic places in search of these, but now I am finding them in my own back yard.”
His work has been seen at local galleries and juried shows at Durham Art Guild, Visual Art Exchange, Fine Arts League of Cary, and Raleigh Fine Arts Society. See more of his photography on his Chatham Artists Guild gallery page.
