Michael Regnier

My photography has evolved over the years, guided by a desire to interpret the world around me with the freedom that other interpretive mediums offer. I want to go beyond the reality of the image in the camera.

I begin by recording the scene with a high resolution digital camera. Then back in the studio, the real interpretation of the images begin. The images are spontaneous. I apply and re-apply layers of textures and colors until it feels right. In my work, I use contemporary tools and methods to capture hints of the Pictorialist work of the past. I try to convey the character of both the realistic and the abstract by means of light and shade, color and texture all working together. I see images through contemporary eyes. But I’m also interested in the romanticism of their past.


My Process.. Making a Mess of Things

"My favorite technique of layering unrelated images owes its genesis to the chronic helter-skelter mess of my studio. One day I noticed the delightful juxtaposition of one transparency lying atop another. Thus, a working style was born. My photographs are an extension of my life: Chaotic, messy, and simultaneously in and out of control.. and I like it that way."

Kansas City Art Institute