Mike Jones

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Mike's love of photography started atage 10 when his father taught him how to use his old Pentax SLR camera. By the time he graduated high school, he had also graduated from his 35mm Pentax, to an old 4x5 Graflex camera.
From the beginning, landscapes were his true passion. During Summer vacations in Maine, Mike would choose to climb around the rocky shore with a camera and tripod instead of shopping with his family in downtown Bar Harbor. He soon landed a job shooting photos for a local newspaper where he continued to work while studying photography in college.

In 1994, Mike moved from Cranford, New Jersey to Bricktown, NJ and spent 6 years as the staff photographer for The Coast Star newspaper in Manasquan. After 10 years as a photojournalist, Mike Jones has seen it all, the variety of work at a weekly newspaper demands versatility. In 2000, Mike went on to pursue a freelance career. With more time to devote to travel photography, he spent the summer of 2001 on a three month camping trip across the United States, visiting 18 National Parks. From the beginning, Mike has always been obsessed with a clear picture. His 4x5 Graflex camera, held together with duct tape, was later replaced with a Toyo view camera with an arsenal of 7 different lenses. This is the camera he used for the bulk of his landscape photography. He also did a lot of work with a Mamiya RZ-67, medium format camera, which has now been replaced with a Canon 5D digital camera with a collection of over a dozen different lenses. This is the camera he currently uses for the bulk of his work.

After the big camping trip out west, in 2001, Mike realized just how much there was to see out there, and his urge to move out of New Jersey became stronger than ever. After 15 years of thinking about it, he finally did it! In 2005 Mike sold his house and bought a huge motorhome. It's a 37 foot long Fleetwood. It's as roomy and comfortable inside as a nice apartment. It's fully equipped with satellite TV and a mobile internet connection, so he is able to conduct all his work from the road. He has transformed the inside into somewhat of a photography studio on wheels. I'm sure he will settle down eventually, once he figures out where he wants that to be. But…for now he's just wandering around taking pictures. Mike's gift to the viewer is his ability to capture the magnificence and power of nature. In each of his photographs he shows the delicate nature of light and how it impacts the surrounding environment. The results are truly awe inspiring pieces that leave the viewer breathless and lost in thought.