Pia & Orchids Artwork

Will Donnelly grew up in the Bronx, New York in the 50´s and early 60`s. After completing High School, he joined the U.S. Air Force and served from 1966 to 1974 as a Photojournalist in a special group called Audio-Visual Information Service (AVIS) travelling throughout the USA, South East Asia and in Europe. This was the beginning of Will´s photo career, documentary portraits from Viet Nam, Japan, as well as Europe and America including 2 Presidential Portraits. After Will´s military career, his first job in the private sector was as Asst. Art Director for Visual Merchandising by Abercrombie & Fitch, the oldest and most famous department store on Madison Avenue in Manhattan. The work was the basis for his outstanding knowledge in Lighting, Design and Composition in Fashion and other areas. In the mid 70`s Will moved west to Arizona where he attended Phoenix College studying Fine Art Photography and Art History with an emphasis on Fine Art printing. During this time he was an up and coming name in the Southwest Gallery scene attending workshops with Wynn Bullock, Lee Friedlander, Eikoh Hosoe and Allen Dutton in New York, Arizona and California, all with group shows that received high press coverage and positive acclaim. Will completed his studies with an Associate Degree in Fine Art Photography in 1976. To further expand his photo knowledge in the areas of Commercial and Fashion photography, Will moved to Los Angeles where he attended Art Center College of Design on a full scholarship, the only student to achieve this in the 40 year history of the College. www.artcenter.edu Will´s talent as an Art Director and photographer led to his first shooting for local Los Angeles Fashion magazines while he was still a student and his first projects designing and photographing album covers for such music labels as A&M Records and Arcade Music for artists such as Elvis Costello, DEVO, and other New Wave LA artists. Wills photos can also be seen the the Robert Stigwood Feature Film Production " Moment By Moment" with John Travolta and Lily Tomlin. Shortly thereafter, Will left Los Angeles for Milano and Paris to work for magazines and fashion clients.