Bob Walker (photographer) - Beginnings

Beginnings

Walker attended Oberlin College. It was at Oberlin that he made his closest friend, a mutt named Dog. After graduation in 1974 he drove with Dog across country, entering the San Francisco Bay Area through Altamont Pass whose sensual hills he would note were the cause of his love affair with California.

Walker’s journey as a photographer began when a friend, poet Jim Mitchell, sold Walker his first camera: a Pentax ME. Armed with his new camera, Walker traveled to the East Bay hills to capture the natural beauty of the area. "I do think I can take credit for getting him interested in photography, but the East bay Hills he discovered on his own..."

Walker had one good eye and only partial use of the other. He took many of his photos in low light with very slow film, a technique that resulted in landscapes with great depth of field. He called the afternoon hour at which he took most of his best photos Magic Hour. This time of day allowed Walker to take advantage of the shadows and contrasting light of the sunset. The "San Francisco Bay Guardian" commented that his photos, "conjure up the style of the old masters..."

Walker credited a photo taken in winter 1982 as a pivotal point in his photographic career. One stormy day he was hiking in the rain in his favorite park. The sky was completely covered with dark rain clouds above a pastoral landscape of sensual green hills, with Mt. Diablo in the distance. Seeing the Sun beginning to break through the clouds, he quickly rushed to the top of the ridge and captured the image, Winter Storm over Marsh Creek. He later noted that it was the first time he envisioned a photo before it had been created.