| Artist Bio: It’s said that one picture is worth a thousand words….this is an apt description for every image shot by famed photographer Norm Clasen. As a free-lance photographer, Clasen has traveled the globe recording man, nature, and the world around us.
With a very successful career spanning four decades, the photographer-artist is passionate about his work. Clasen’s images have been featured in numerous magazines in this country, as well as in European publications. One the most exciting periods in his career was being chosen as a photographer for the world-famous “Marlboro Man” advertising campaign for twelve years, considered to be one of the most recognizable images of all time. As a result of Clasen working with many ranchers and becoming friends with them while shooting the Marlboro images, the artist began his love affair with the iconic West. The artist’s interests began focusing on the magnificent horses that roam the ranches and plains. Marveling at their sheer power, grace, and beauty, Clasen attempts to capture the magic of the animals when in full flight as the dust swirls around them and their manes float through the air.
Few landscapes are too challenging for Clasen – filming in dust, rain or snow and pushing light to its limit have resulted in this photographer-artist creating some of his most memorable and dramatic images. Clasen’s work usually reflects natural elements as the main focus using 35mm equipment in either film or digital formats. In some cases, he enhances the photographs to create an artistic aura, taking on a painting-like feeling, but maintaining their photographic quality. Always striving to reflect the timeless nature of the West, Clasen produces photographs that are at-once classic, but created with modern technology, and yet evoking softer, grainy images that appear to echo from the past. Clasen refers to this aspect of his work as “artography” and believes it is a new and evolving genre for the art market.
Norm and his wife, Laura, reside on a ranch in Colorado with horses and Max the Wonderdog. With a magnificent landscape to call home, the photographer and his wife are forever grateful to be surrounded with the ever-changing beauty of nature.
Join Norm Clasen as he records a world that never disappoints and offers a new vista at every turn. |
