Behan Communications Artist's Profile | 09.10.2022

AN ARTIST’S JOURNEY: Regular Facing Out readers know John Bulmer. He’s been a designer and art director, a commercial and documentary photographer, and a fine artist. Now he is a creator blending of all those roles. “Over the course my career, I have come to realize that all art is built on the same principles of composition and color. Only the mechanics change as the media change,” John said.

Adaptation is essential in any creative pursuit, and John is continuously finding new ways to innovate, build narrative and tell stories for clients and causes that he seeks to promote, such as the protection of public lands and the conservation of fragile ecosystems.

He has designed software interfaces and consumer spaces, illustrated books, and designed packaging and websites. As a commercial photographer, John’s work has been seen around the world.

Recently, John has turned to mixed media painting, producing drawings and paintings of the landscapes he once captured with a camera. “The paintings are a way for me to slow down and enjoy the process again,” he said. “Over the past 25 years, I have captured millions of photos in an industry that relies on the fast turnaround of thousands of images on a tight deadline. Painting allows me to slow it all down and produce one deliberate thing at a time. For me, in 2022, art is the process of making something beautiful or thought-provoking, the tools used don’t matter so much anymore. It can be with an AI, a computer, a camera, or a paintbrush.”

Learn more about John’s photography at www.bulmerphotography.com or his paintings at www.johnbulmerart.com.

Learn more at www.behancommunications.com

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A Year in the Park | Behan Communications: What Caught Our Eye

As featured in Behan Communications What Caught Our Eye, February 1, 2020

A YEAR IN THE PARK: John Bulmer has been a professional photographer since 1999, but he and photography go back much further than that.  His dad is a photographer, too, and John grew up with a darkroom in the basement and “endless hours’’ in a hunting blind with a camera waiting for a deer to come along or in a rowboat waiting for a beaver to surface. He remembers being bored to tears then. Now, he says, “I realize it taught me the patience that’s required to get past the obvious images and angles and capture something unique and memorable.’’ As a child, John discovered Grafton Lakes State Park, all 2,500 acres on the plateau between the Taconic and Hudson Valleys and came to know it well. “I have a long history with the park in every season and all sorts of weather conditions. All these years later, the park still shows me new things with each visit. I firmly believe our state parks and public lands are treasures that need to be protected and secured for future generations (and) compelling photography helps further that cause by highlighting the beauty and fragility of places like Grafton.’’ On average, John shoots in various locations like Grafton 40 to 50 times per year. He makes a special point to shoot in less-than-ideal weather conditions that present the opportunity to capture Grafton’s many moods. “Shooting a subject in all varieties of conditions and times of the day is an enduring lesson I learned in art school: It’s really the only way to tell the story of anything properly.” With pride, we present John Bulmer’s A Year in the Park.