'Rhapsody # 02' Artwork - Limited Edition of 1

I am a retired ophthalmologist. I have had a passion for art ever since I was 7 or 8 years old, and in my early school life, I started with sand and watercolor paintings. When our courtship began, I hand-painted love notes to my future wife that remain treasures to this day! My interests grew, particularly in sculpture of the human body, portrait photography, and natural or manmade landscapes. When I was working in my medical practice, I visited most of the US National Parks on family vacations. I must have taken more than 15,000 photographs since travels began in 1970. After retirement, I visited China, Japan, Thailand, UK, Western Europe, Kenya and Tanzania, South America and India. During my travels, I spent time in museums around the world. I looked in detail at the portraits by the great European artists. With these lessons and inspirations, my photographic journey began with nature photography and portrait photography of family and friends. Photo sessions became a routine expectation for all visitors to my home and I sought to create the effect that I had seen in paintings. Now, I am working to create interesting visual effects digitally with unique photographic images whether they are from my travels to remote places or from my own garden. Photorealism seems to describe my inclination to photography best. My first camera was the Nikon III. Its lens captured images without distortion and it was widely regarded as a superior camera in those days. It proved to be the perfect camera for me because of clarity, sturdiness, and versatility for prints and slides equally. At present I use Nikon 70D, a DSLR which was the best choice for portrait photography due of the lens’ 3D effect. Though only at 16 MP, the resolution is perfect for my purposes. Most of my images are captured between 4 and 7 feet, whether they are portrait or nature photography. At this moment, I would like to mention that my wife Usha has been my greatest inspiration and shares my passion for art. We have had a long life together from the time we met when she was 15 and I was 19 years old. ‘Aphrodite of Khajuraho, ’ which is one of my digital art pieces, is her invention. Beyond art, I have an interest in history, the humanities, philosophies of various cultures and religions of the world, and gardening (particularly bonsai). That is why world heritage monuments appeal to me the most.