Art allows us to see the world anew. When a angler views waves along a beach, usually all he or she observes are problems and opportunities — can I expect to fish this water well? But there is beauty, too, in the seeming chaos of waveforms, in the play of light and gravity.
I have been a professional city planner in the Bay Area for over 40 years, and am fascinated by patterns on land, water, and manmade structures. In particular, I am intrigued by geographic and architectural formations that suggest otherworldly designs. I seek out landscapes, waterscapes, urban forms, and abstractions that are visually appealing, thought-provoking, and a departure from other people’s work.
I have been taking photographs since 1978 and have been published in a variety of books and periodicals. I have curated and staged eight exhibits at galleries, as well as in buildings and public spaces in San Francisco and London. I was one of the artists selected by the San Francisco Arts Commission to display photographs inside the SFPUC building in the San Francisco Civic Center.
It wasn’t until October of 2019 that I bought a professional-quality camera. By that time, all the 300+ photos on my website were taken with a Canon 7D or one of my several pocket cameras. My current camera is a mirrorless Sony A7R Mark 4 with two telephoto lenses: a 24-105 mm walking around lens and a 200-600 mm superzoom for distant water, wave, and wildlife shots. It took me forty years to feel that I deserved a state-of-the-art camera. My entire body of work (60,000 images) prior to 2019 was taken with middle-of-the-road cameras, which is why I tell people that it’s not about the camera!
My website is mug.com. It features a waves, water, and wildlife gallery as well as landscape, pattern, architecture, travel, and abstract images. I would love to hear what you think. Please feel free to email me at chandlerle@aol.com if you would like to purchase a print or a download to use as background on your computer, tablet or phone.
— Chandler Lee
