Art Create Stephen F. Procko Photo Gallery

Stephen F. Procko

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Stephen F. Procko, born in 1956, grew up in South Florida and began making photographs at the age of ten. Procko photographed through high school and college working as a photographic stringer for a local newspaper and a staff writer for the Independent Alligator at the University of Florida. After a year at the University of Florida he moved back to South Florida and opened a commercial photography studio at the age of nineteen.

For four years the studio grew with an advertising agency client base as well as work for such national companies as CBS Records. During the years as a commercial photographer, Procko was given the opportunity to direct television commercials. In 1980 he closed the doors of the photography studio and went to work for a local advertising agency as an art director. Continuing to work as a Director/Cameraman for television commercials while at the agency he then formed a production company, Altman/Procko Productions, in 1984. The company is fully self contained with its own soundstage and equipment. In the last ten years, Altman/Procko Productions has won over fifty Addy Awards, International TV and Film Festival of New York Awards as well as three Emmys. Commercial clients have included Proctor and Gamble, Blockbuster Video, Toyota, Lincoln/Mercury and Office Depot. During the 80's, while the commercial business was taking off, Procko all but stopped making still photographs.

In 1990 he took to the still camera again returning to his roots. "Photography led to the advertising business and then to my work as a Director/Cameraman", said Procko, "The work I do for a living is a creative outlet, but it has boundaries set down by whatever client I'm working with at the time. When I started working in stills again I had no boundaries." Working strictly with larger format cameras, Procko began to explore Black and White landscapes. His commercial business sent him out west and after the commercial work was done he managed to squeeze in some of his own work, "I would head off to a location out west and carry an extra 50 pounds of gear just for the still work. I've become an expert in the art of 'carry-on' luggage", Procko said. In the last two years trips have sent him to New Mexico, Alberta, and California.

"The roots of contemporary photography are in California," said Procko, "I would say that my influences come from Edward and Brett Weston, Minor White, Ansel Adams and Paul Strand. With the exception of Strand, the other photographers did the majority of there work based out of the San Francisco Bay area and Carmel. When I first explored that region it was apparent to me why it supported so many photographers; the whole area is so diverse in scope, there is so much to photograph there". In addition to western landscapes, Procko has photographed extensively through the South (he has a log cabin in the North Georgia mountains that he often retreats to) and has been doing still life studies in his studio.

Procko's recent exhibitions include a two person show at Photogroup Center in South Florida, The Natural World Photographic Exhibition at The Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and The Museum of Art in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. A one person show "Forms, Textures and Space" was exhibited at Photos & Photos in Bal Harbour, Florida and "Steam, Iron and Steel" as part of Metro-Dade Art in Public Places.

Procko maintains an Internet gallery at [http://members.aol.com/stevep5200]. The website has been rated as one of the 'Best of the Web' by Lenswork magazine. He has also co-founded and designed a new Internet location 'the sight' [http://thesight.com]. Now in it's third year, this curated exhibition is made up of twenty-five photographer/artists from around the world. The group was recently featured in the Wall Street Journal."We artist photographers have come together in a way that was not possible until a few years ago. This compression of distance was made possible through America Online. Few of us have ever met face-to-face though many of us exhibited in the 'Off the Highway" exhibitions since 1995. 'the sight' represents the next step in our development as a group. I am amazed by the networking resource that the Internet has become", said Procko.

For further information contact Stephen F. Procko at 20205 NE 15th Court; Miami, Florida 33179,USA

Telephone (305)651-8258.

Email: SteveP5200@aol.com.

Internet Gallery: http://members.aol.com/stevep5200

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-since November 22 1997.

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