A Romance with Photography – Flagstaff Business Information

Shane Knight’s mother liked yard gross sales, and at age 15, he joined her and was excited to search out two digicam lenses he might afford.

“I tried to sell them, but I learned only an idiot buys lenses without a camera,” he mentioned. “I saved up and purchased a matching Olympus OM-PC SLR at a camera shop in the city. I ran a test roll through it and instantly fell in love. I never sold the camera.”  

Thus started Knight’s lifelong devotion to a profession in pictures, particularly, wonderful arts pictures rendered with large-format, 8 x 10 view cameras and medium format movie cameras.

Describing it as a “love-hate relationship with photography,” photographs fill his head all through the day, by means of bedtime and past. He awakes each morning with photographs on his thoughts. “I am not sure if it is a curse or a blessing, but I thank Mother Nature every day for all her splendor, showing me her best to photograph,” he mentioned.

July 4 marked the Shane Knight Gallery’s 18th anniversary in downtown Flagstaff and 37 years of pictures for him. “My first location was on Route 66, currently known as Mountain Top Tap Room,” he mentioned. “We moved over to Aspen six years later, and again a couple of years ago to our current location at 11 East Aspen.” 

 Knight, who was born in Hays, Kansas, in 1973, was legally deaf as a younger baby, which was a consider drawing him to pictures at an early age. “After several operations, my hearing was restored. However, it severely placed me behind in my early development in speech and comprehension.” 

After years of particular schooling and speech remedy, he began to have interaction extra with folks when he was a senior in highschool. “Before, photography was my ‘in’ with social groups and parties. ‘Shane doesn’t say much but man, he takes good pics,’ people would say. I would comfortably hide behind the camera – it was my form of communication.”

After highschool, he spent a few years touring and dealing a wide range of jobs, taking footage and even wrangling horses. While working for knowledgeable lab, he gained expertise printing for skilled photographers throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. He had the chance to “work with beautifully and well-done negatives” from professionals.

“After a while, I became accustomed to quality; however, occasionally, I would see one that stood out more than the others. I remembered how it made me feel when I worked with a negative that stood out from all the other ones. I applied those high standards to how I wanted people to see my work.”

Later, he discovered the artwork of communication and pictures of Ansel Adams and located his work very inspirational. These early experiences culminated in his relocation to Arizona within the late ‘90s. He labored on a ranch east of Phoenix within the

Tonto National Forest, which is the place he met his spouse, Heather. She was incomes her grasp’s in particular schooling from the University of Arizona. 

“We moved to Flagstaff in 2003, primarily to work with Stephen Saunders and the late Corey Allen, who owned the photo lab Hidden Light at the time.”

The couple’s son, Austin, was born in Flagstaff 2007. “There is nothing I love more than the art of photography, except my family and the loves of my life, Heather and Austin,” he mentioned.                                                                                                                                             

Knight discovered the Flagstaff neighborhood very supportive of the humanities, which inspired the creativity {of professional} photographers. He was notably appreciative of the assets at Hidden Light, such because the lab being one of many “very rare, high-quality Ilfochrome/Cibachrome and B/W Silver Gelatin labs in the United States,” he mentioned. 

“After moving here, I soon realized Flagstaff might be a great spot to open a brick-and-mortar gallery.” Before the gallery, he was collaborating in artwork exhibits throughout the nation. 

Famous for his Western landscapes, the spacious 1,800-square-foot gallery has labored effectively for displaying his images. “We gave it a facelift with wooden floors and added a wainscoting completely made of local ponderosa pine. I try to make the gallery as warm as possible and pleasing to the eyes.”

The couple lately opened an image body store, Mountaintop Frame Shop, on the east aspect of city. “A lot of people were coming in commenting on the quality of my framing. So instead of sending them elsewhere, we opened the framing to the public with great success!”

In addition, Knight joined the Flagstaff Downtown Business Alliance (FDBA), the nonprofit group devoted to the preservation and promotion of historic downtown Flagstaff, together with its companies. “Since we are all in the same boat, we do look out for each other.”

Knight credit “a great staff of sales associates and framers,” for the success of his enterprise ventures. “I wouldn’t be anywhere today without them,” he mentioned.

“I believe the most exciting moment of being a photographer is that every great shot is on the edge of disaster. So many things can go wrong and most of the time it doesn’t work out. However, every once in a while, it all comes together. If I could use one word to describe the process of working with large cameras, working with film, processing in the darkroom, waiting for the perfect moment and seeing it all in a frame on the wall, it’s ‘romantic.’” FBN

By Betsey Bruner, FBN

Photo by Betsey Bruner: Deaf as a baby, pictures gave Shane Knight a voice and a approach to talk.