Bill Brahmstedt was born in 1951 in Providence, Rhode Island. In 1971 he enlisted in the US Navy and following his father’s advice, purchased his first camera, a 35mm Honeywell Pentax. After extensive study aboard ship, Brahmstedt earned an appointment as a US Navy photographer. After receiving an honorable discharge, Brahmstedt returned to New England and took a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration at Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont. While at the university, he worked as one of the school’s two official photographers making good use of their full-service photo lab.
Upon graduation in 1979, Brahmstedt began his freelance, large format photography career. His client list included Boston Boiler Works, Merrill Boots, Mad River Canoe, Bed & Breakfast of America, Balloon Life Magazine and Cross Country Ski Magazine. In 1984, Brahmstedt worked with photographer Annie Liebowitz of Rolling Stone Magazine on a project which was published in Vanity Fair.
In 1985, Brahmstedt focused his lenses on “Wild Places” and began selling his work through galleries and by word of mouth. In 1990, after thoroughly exploring and photographing what he refers to as “disappearing wilderness” in the northeastern US, Brahmstedt moved to Boise, Idaho. He immediately became busy photographing Idaho and an ever widening circle of more distant places. This work produced two solo gallery exhibitions in Boise. This in turn led to the acceptance in a California gallery and a half-hour interview on public television.
In 1994, looking for a bigger market, Brahmstedt moved to Denver, Colorado. Living in Denver, Brahmstedt has photographed areas in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Washington, Alaska, Costa Rica as well as a three month trip in New Zealand. The majority of the his recent work has been focused in the eastern plains of Colorado as well as a Star project. The Star project includes a forground image (mountain, tree, arch) and the night sky. The exposures are two to three hours long. No wind, no clouds and no moon are needed for each shot. See images in the star gallery.
The most recent photo show was in The Phoenix Gallery in Burlington Vermont. 30×40 prints filled the gallery which was a great success with a packed reception and two favorable newspaper articles in the arts section of the local paper.
Brahmstedt uses a Wista 4×5 Field View camera and shoots Fuji Velvia color transparency film. The transparencies are drum scanned and Crystal Archive LightJet Prints are made which are the finest quality photographic prints available.
A small digital camera records points of interest not shot with the view camera. (See “Along the Way” Gallery)
Photographic images can be seen on this website, Image Bank Stock Agency, Frame de Art II Gallery in Englewood, Colorado, and The Marriott Hotel Denver Tech Center.
The Process
Bill’s images are printed utilizing the Crystal Archive LightJet process producing the finest quality photographic prints available today. No other prints can match the color, sharpness and total range of the LightJet print. Archival permanence has been listed at 70+ years – greater than either Cibachrome or Ilfochrome papers.
During the Crystal Archive LightJet process, 4X5 transparencies are drum-scanned, profiled, then printed. The images are neither altered nor enhanced during this process resulting in a final print that looks exactly like the original
transparency. In other words, you see exactly what Bill saw when he captured the original image on film.
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Please note:
Due to the low resolution of computer monitors, and small file sizes transmitted on-line, the image seen on the screen cannot hope to do justice to the photographic print.