DAVID ZAPATA

            The world is already perfectly composed.  For me, my art is a matter of recognizing and recording the fully-formed compositions which constantly present them to my trained photographer’s eye.  This is not really a matter of study any more.  It is instinct.  I am especially fond of botanical subjects, although it is not any one particular subject which moves me to reach for my camera.  I experience the same subtle essence in a crumpled piece of paper, a fallen leaf, a cityscape, or a human figure.

            What I am trying to capture, what I am trying to reveal in my compositions, is the dance between form and light—the interplay of light and shadow in illuminated shapes and textures which suggests the more subtle essence.  When I am at work, my camera, my subject and I become one.  I disappear for a time into the dance.  This is where I find my creativity.  This is where I find my joy.

                David Zapata was born in Northampton, Massachusetts in 1948 and was raised in the Berkshires, but has lived happily in Sarasota since 1970 and considers Florida his home.  His artistic passion has always been photography.

                For many years he has worked with a film-camera and darkroom, in both black-and-white and color.  When the computer revolution swept the photographic world, he decided to work exclusively with a digital camera and computer.  David find this affords much greater creative control, allowing him to work with images in ways which would have been difficult or impossible using more traditional techniques.