Brian Finke – Color Irony

Brian Finke

was born in 1976 in Texas. His interest in photography began as a freshman in high school when he took his first photojournalism class. Of special note was his love and admiration of the photojournalist W. Eugene Smith. Apparently, this freshman year class was pretty good. He is a true documentary photographer in that he doesn’t really like making things up, and prefers and follows the mantra that it’s better discovering and ‘seeing’ what’s around him.

Brian Finke – A Color Larry Clark?

These days his impetus is more Larry Clark than any of the “normal” photojournalists, delving very deeply into the subject at hand. His first award for photography was at the age of 22, and pretty soon after he started defining himself as a documentary photographer. He was subsequently awarded the ‘New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship for Photography’ in 2004. He produced his first monograph about American Cheerleaders & Football Players. It was this breakout work that received a lot of attention.

He loves getting that reaction of surprise when he’s on assignment and pulls out a Polaroid from his back. People start thinking of him as an art photographer. And he’s fine with that. He exclusively shoots film with a Hasselblad. And loves everything about it. From the grain and depth of film, the chromogenic print, to the actual camera and process itself. And when viewed at large scale in a gallery, the beauty alone gives him no reason to change.

Documentary to Art

He’s had solo exhibitions in New York City, Los Angeles, Paris, Jacksonville, and Houston, among others, and are in many collections worldwide. His book, “Flight Attendants“, is a great work of photographic documentary and art combined. He began photographing flight attendants as he traveled around the world. He even visited a flight attendant school documenting the training. The airlines included Delta, JetBlue, Hawaiian, Hooters Air, Southwest, Air Asia, Thai, Tiger, ANA, Japan, and Cathay Pacific. Colorful, sad, comedic and filled with irony. A beautiful book available on Amazon.

He lives in New York City now, and his commission schedule is full. Check out his website link below, and check out the myriad of stories he’s documented,…with perfect composition and perfect color. Something to aspire to.

Website