| Eastern Sierra and Central Coast | Photography Background | Recent Reviews | Artistic Influences | Contact Information |
Jim Ogg has maintained a home in Mammoth Lakes since 1987 and has been a frequent visitor to the Eastern Sierra since the 1970's. Jim Ogg's Eastern Sierra images consist of two bodies of work: Sealth and Nataqua. In 1997 Jim relocated to the Central Coast area of California and has expanded his Sealth work to that area. Now he splits his time between the Eastern Sierra and the Central Coast. Working in the Sierra during the High Sierra's spring, summer and fall and along the coast for its fall, winter and spring.
He trained in photography in the late 1970's at Santa Monica College. During the 1980's he owned and operated a photography studio in the Point Fermin area of San Pedro specializing in model portfolios, shoreline action and marine scenics. From the late 70's and into the 90's, Jim applied his computer and software expertise to many National Defense image processing applications. He is now combining his photography and image processing experience to create digital images.
Recent publications on Jim and his work include:
Jim Ogg's greatest influence was found several years after he started his Sealth work. He naively believed that his Sealth images were something very new and modern. Then he found Degas's work of the late Nineteenth century. Degas is famous for his Ballerina images. He often started with the uncovered human form then covered them with the ballerina costumes. This enabled Degas to get muscle tone precise and achieve the appropriate translucency and drapery. Ingres, Klimt, Matisse, Picasso, Rodin, and many others also did preliminary or study drawings of the uncovered figure before covering them.
Also Degas did some anthropomorphic landscape images. He covered and embedded an uncovered female as a rugged shoreline, "Steep Coast" c. 1890-2, and human male phallus as a severe mountain landscape, "Landscape" c. 1890-2. Further, Degas's pastel images sometimes use layers to achieve effects. Picasso also did an anthropomorphic image. In "Landscape with Two Figures" 1908, Picasso has a figure in a tree trunk and another in tree roots. Obviously much of Jim's Sealth images methodology was presaged by Degas and Picasso.
In addition to Degas, Jim is inspired by the colors, saturation, passion, and nature interpretation of Van Gogh; the composition, subjects and attention to detail of Ansel Adams; the image composites of Jerry Uelsmann; the color pallet, color layers, modesty, and subjects of Maxfield Parrish; the camouflage art of Bev Dolittle; the sensitivity, subjects and images of Susan Seddon Boulet's Goddess Paintings; the color, subjects and impact of Eyvind Earle; the subjects and vision of Jim Warren; and the passion of Edward Weston.
| Home | Sealth | Nataqua | Exhibits | Portfolios | Prints | Ilfochromes | Links |