Today we’d like to introduce you to Richard S. Chow

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?

My journey from youthful curiosity to lifelong passion began with a simple camera. Born in Hong Kong, then a British colony, I moved to the United States with my family at sixteen. My love for photography was sparked at fourteen when I saved up gifts of “red lucky money” to buy a Russian-made manual camera (SLR) with 50mm and 200mm lenses. Solid and weighty in my hands, that camera unlocked my imagination at a young age. Soon after, I learned darkroom processing at the local YMCA, marking the start of a creative path I continue to follow.

I was fortunate to have a dedicated high school mentor in the U.S., who introduced me to the intricacies of composition and darkroom techniques, inspiring me to deepen my art. While pursuing a BS in Engineering Computer Science, I continued studying photography through university courses, subsequent workshops at Santa Monica College, and seminars, each adding essential layers to my foundation. These courses provided valuable building blocks, but it was the hands-on experimentation and dedicated practice that truly shaped my skills. The joy of photography as a means of self-expression has stayed with me ever since. Fast forward to around 15+ years ago, I returned to the craft, immersing myself in creating fine art portfolios and exhibiting in galleries and museums.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect? ……

September 19, 2024

Mr. Richard Chow has hit it out of the park at SubTerra Gallery. In a further creative extension for fine art photography, with the inventive foreplay of ultraviolet sunbathing to magically enchant the silverscreen of archival pigment from a sturdier age, in a time that relished the timeless, the fine artist has typified his true merit of knowing true beauty.

“‘Visions Unfold’ is a grand experience — it’s not a small exhibit,” artist and curator Richard S. Chow noted. “We want guests to be fully immersed in the work of AAPI artists, with different concepts and mediums presented. Each artist in the show is a photographic artist, with a few representing an abstract take on the form. From studies in alternative photography to cultural references to film negatives, there are so many subjects and photography mediums touched on throughout the exhibition.”

The most talented Los Angeles fine art photographers create stunning art that transcends the medium of photography. Some are inspired by the Southern California sun, while others explore concepts and themes related to the essence of life itself. Browse these creatives’ portfolios and Instagram feeds to be amazed by boundless creativity and talent.

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“It Takes a Village” at the Lancaster Museum of Art and History (MOAH) through April 22nd, is the world in a microcosm, truly wonderful exhibitions that address essential and universal elements of community in subjects ranging from family to race, gender, home, and age.

Get ready to evolve. Convergent Evolution, a solo show by photographic artist Richard Chow at the Neutra Gallery in Silver Lake is a beautifully evocative mix of black and white images and a vivid color palette that show a wide and evolutionary range of Chow’s work.

Exhibiting images from radically divergent bodies of work, Chow takes bold risks in presenting disparate images that transcend beauty or social commentary, stimulating, challenging, and engaging the viewer in dialogue with the art.