Delta Oasis II Photograph

J. Montrell-Stark, a native of Arkansas by way of Atlanta, has worked as a photographer, commercial printer, graphic artist, web developer, publisher, advertising and marketing agency partner. Lacking a formal education in either fine or commercial art, success in any field was hard fought for. The few months spent working with friends in a pawn shop makes for great stories. Favorite job? Being JuJu, his wife's husband of over fifteen years. His rock. Growing up in a family of five brothers in the empoverished Delta region of Arkansas, art was reserved for... others. It was hard work and sweat that held the key to breaking away. At the age of thirteen Stark discovered the works of Ansel Adams and planned to travel to California to study under his idol. Adams died just a few years later. With that dream lost Stark goes on a post-disco journey that puts him on a roller-coaster ride as a rabid young Republican and then on to various other incarnations including hippy activist, peacnik, libertarian, Marxist goth, a cut throat capitalist and now, back to his common sense. The camera and photography have always been there as his most dependable tools of expression. "I am a firm believer that every picture tells a story and should, as the work of an artist, evoke an emotion. There is no lens wide enough nor film vivid enough to capture the true beauty of Gods presentation of nature. This for me is the reason that we as artists will die unfulfilled and longing to take one more shot." -J.Montrell-Stark