But
I will attempt to answer your most burning questions about me...
I was born in 1954, raised
on Strontium-90 fortified milk — which builds strong bodies 90 different ways — and I learned almost everything I know by watching Saturday Morning Cartoons.
And that pretty much sums it up, but there are few more things I’d like to tell you, and the story goes all the way back to World War 2...
Nature or Nurture?
Unlike my dad, I do not have a formal education in art. Either what I do artwise is the result of genetics, or (mostly likely), from osmotic assimilation caused by growing up with a working, classically trained, artist.
My first recollection of taking photos was in the early 1960s — we had big ice storm, and I went out taking photos with an old Rolleiflex. I remember this very well, and I think I got some good shots, too!
Now here’s where the WW2 thing comes in...
My dad brought the Rollei back from the war. He was trained as a photographer by the United States Army and served with the photo reconnaissance squad in Italy. So really, my photo education began there, too!
By the way, that’s not the Rollie in the picture, but that is my dad, Bill Farr, learning some things about photography he would eventually teach me!
The enabling catalyst that changed the lives of thousands...
There are very few people who know the complete story which developed over three decades, so I am going to tell it now. The short version, of course, but I think it’s a good story, and one that everyone reading this can take something from.
After the ice storm photos, I didn’t do much with photography for many years.
When I went to college (Grinnell, IA), however, I thought I would take it up, plus, I had an opportunity to take photographs for the school yearbook.
The big problem was, I didn’t have a camera and couldn’t afford one. In those days, even the entry level 35mm cameras were very expensive!
As it turned out, a friend of the family, Bill Taura, was able to get me a Canon FTb at wholesale cost and was also able to get me some very nice lenses for free. Had he not done that, I might never have gotten started.
I took a lot of photos with that camera in the 1970s and early 1980s, but that’s only the beginning of the story...
In the mid 1980s, I met my wife, Pam, who became interested in photography, but was also cameraless. So, in the spirit of “passing it on,” I gave her a camera and, as you may already know, she has gone on to be one of the top people and pet photographers in the world, but that’s not all...
In the early 1990s, Pam and I took up teaching photography and have since trained, inspired, and changed the lives of about 3,000 aspiring professionals.
We’ve had students on every continent except Antarctica, and have even had students on aircraft carriers. Each week we get e-mails and letters about how we have enabled someone to achieve their dreams, which is all very nice, but...
The real point is this — trace it back to Bill Taura, Bill Farr, me taking photos of an ice storm, even World War 2... events and actions — even small ones like enabling someone to have or use a camera — can have enormous cascading effects.
And that’s something to think about as you go about your life, perhaps helping people in what may seem very small ways.
I am very gratefully to all those people and events that have helped me along the way, and I try to continue the tradition by producing inspiring work, teaching and, when appropriate, giving away cameras! And I encourage you, in your own way, to do the same!
So that’s my story. Probably not your typical “artist bio”... I know I didn’t talk about my art “philosophy” or anything about the work, but you can learn more about that in the About the Art section.
Artistically yours,
Jeff Farr
OK,
I'm not going to pretend that someone else is writing this for me like
so many artist “bios” and statements do.