Born in the ninteen forties and growing-up in the Puget Sound region of Washington State I gained the values of my generation and the appreciation for the sanctity of nature at an early age. Raised by a mother who lived for the beaches and the woodlands of our pristine environment and a father with a graphic arts business, my destiny was but a foregone conclusion. At an early age my mother was instructing me on the use of her "Brownie Box Camera", and I was working after school for my father in his printing company. I became fascinated with the aspect of graphic layout, his artists could present the most monotonous subject matter in ways that demanded attention.

"In the sixties there was conflict in the Far East and before I really realized what was going on I woke up one morning in the midst of it all with a camera in my hands."

Good old Uncle Sam had decided to make me a U.S. Marine Corps Photographer.

It was the month of July, the year was 1965 and I was on foreign soil far from home, unlike thousands of other Marines arriving in the Far East, I was not there as a combat soldier, I was there as an assistant to a civilian photographer. I spent the next year or so under the tutelage of a man whose name I could never pronounce and whose language I never learned to speak but whose lessons I listened to intently. This man understood light and how to capture its nuances through the lens of a camera. He was my mentor.

Upon leaving military service I joined my father's company, teamed with an experienced graphic artist, the two of us set out to capture the market on publishing corporate reports. Her job was layout and design, I was to do all required photography. There came a time in the seventies where my services where so much in demand that the excitement, fun and challenge of the shoot began to feel like a job. I felt this was a restriction on my creativity so I turned to graphic design to fill the void. I opened a graphic services company, producing typography and artwork for the commercial printing and advertising world. 

This decision did not mean an end to photography for me, it meant a new beginning and freedom, freedom to shoot what I wanted and only what I wanted. For the last twenty plus years I have framed through the view finder and released the shutter tens of thousands of times and enjoyed every moment.

If you are in need of a photographer who captures emotion with a camera, talk to me. If you just want someone to take a picture, hand your camera to a friend.

Please browse the galleries within this site, if you find some images to be captivating, pleasing, provocative or in any way stimulating I have accomplished my objective and I thank you for visiting.

RJ Winder