Bradley Hanson Photography

Description

BRADLEY HANSON: BIO

My connection to photography began at age 10 when my parents brought back a beautiful Voigtlander Vitomatic camera from Germany. This little silver box was magic to me. Upon receiving my first roll of film back from the lab, I was instantly addicted to the alchemy of light coming through glass, hitting plastic film and becoming an image through a specific recipe of chemicals. A few years later, I began printing in the darkroom when I was the photographer for my high school newspaper and yearbook. I studied the photography of the Magnum Agency masters like Henri Cartier-Bresson, Josef Koudelka and Elliott Erwitt, but it was buying the Ralph Gibson “Tropism” at the Walker Art Center bookshop in 1988 that immediately electrified my imagination about the compositional and emotional energy of black and white imagery. I started photograping head shots for model portfolios and for promotional portraits and cover images for musicians, then shooting for the Seattle weekly papers, shooting everything from city council meetings and mayoral press conferences to restaurant reviews and local human interest stories. It was through these experiences that I realized I love photographing people.

I landed my first wedding in Seattle in 1999 somewhat by accident. After a couple loved the portraits I made for them, they asked if I would shoot their wedding. Since 1999, I have been a professional photographer serving in Minneapolis, MN, Seattle, WA and international destinations. While weddings are my first love, I also apply my style to portraits, promotional images, live music, commercial and editorial work for a number of clients and publications.