I’m Evan Keeler-Wolf, a consumate lens cap dropper, tripod tipper, photo clicker and explorer. For most of my life in Oakland, CA has been my homebase, but more recently I can be found near my truck camper, down by the river, using a hubcap as mirror to shave. Like many of my endeavors, I have taken an enthrallingly circuitous route to find myself in the field of fine art landscape photography. I was born with exceptionally horrible vision and spent the first several years of my life undiagnosed, alternately disappointing my biologist parents with offensive animal misidentifications, running my toy shopping cart into walls and having conversations 2.5 inches from your face. Coke-bottle glasses and expensive contact lenses have since helped my cause(moderate color-blindness less so), but I still find myself woefully deficient in seemingly important characteristics for a visual artist. I have overcome these visual hurdles by being endlessly curious, willing to learn from failure, and incredibly patient in most of my pursuits.
I bought my first DSLR camera nine years ago to capture recording sessions for musicians at a studio I operated in Philadelphia. While the bulk of my early chops with a camera were honed in this cord-cluttered, windowless room, each time my camera came out on a hike or camping trip I felt a great euphoria, which stayed with me as I reviewed and processed the pictures back home. Back on the west-coast, I channeled several years of working as an elementary school teacher into a career mentoring young people with special needs in outdoor settings. This gig allowed me to hike daily and lead multi-day wilderness trips regularly. My cameras always got to come, but were rarely if ever allowed to be the focal point. I spent a multitude of golden hours in beautiful places advising and mediating the needs of kids while clouds lit up, rock spires were spotlit and distant storms blew by. Each time, I subdued my desire to run around and search for compositions, instead focusing on the needs of my clients, while taking a few mental notes on scouting for future photography-centric trips. A little over a year ago, my desire to explore unemcumbered and focus on witnessing/photographing the most beautiful natural events on earth became overwhelming and I flipped the script.
The last year has seen me design a life meant to accomplish this goal. I purchased and renovated a solar-powered 4wd camper and spent eight months driving a meticulously researched, yet stunningly zig-zaggy route from California to the Artic Circle and back.
I’m heading out to the Southwest for spring through fall 2019, hoping to research some upcoming workshops, create some new images and learn how to canyoneer. I would love to link up with other photographers while I am out there, so please reach out if you would like to connect. I’m very excited to engage with this new community.