Norgren Photography Biography

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1994 - B.A. Studio Art – California State University, Long Beach

1996 – Art Education Credential - California State University, Long Beach

2000 – Digital Media and Web Design Certificates – Learning Tree University

1996 – 2008 – Art and Computer Graphics Teacher

2008 – Present – Digital Photography Teacher

Artist Statement

My love for art and nature began at a very young age and the following lifetime experiences shape my work today. My father was a pilot and I remember when I was about 8 years old he came home from a trip to Hawaii with some flowers for my mother. It was a bouquet of Anthuriums and I remember thinking that they were not real. My father convinced me that they were real and I was fascinated. When I was about 12 years old, I drew a Calla Lily with pastels and gave it to my grandmother. Every time we would visit her house, I would feel proud that she had it framed on her wall and she would always tell me stories about bragging about it to her friends. I continued to draw and paint flowers throughout school and I would always give them away to try to impress girls. This activity finally worked with one amazing woman and we got married in 1996.

That same year, I became an art teacher and one of my favorite projects to teach was based on Georgia O’Keeffe’s abstract flower images. Starting a family limited my time for drawing and painting so I learned graphic design and started a printmaking series with a colleague. Although we did not focus on nature or flowers for our subject matter, I was always concerned with the simplicity of color, shape and texture.

Since 2008, I have been teaching Digital Photography and I have fallen in love with this media. I have also been constantly aware of sources of inspiration. While on a family vacation with my wife and two children, I was trying to take photos of the kids inside a yogurt shop and my son kept shaking his head when I pressed the shutter. At first I was frustrated that he wouldn’t sit still, but then I decided to slow down the shutter speed and let him shake. The images I shot of both my son and daughter shaking their heads reminded me of the artwork of Francis Bacon without the disturbing nature of his images. This experience inspired a project I teach my students where they slow the shutter and create an abstract image of color.

While teaching my students about some famous historical photographers, I have come to appreciate the work of Karl Blossfeldt and Imogen Cunningham. Combining these two photographers with my inspiration from Georgia O’Keeffe, Mark Rothko and Francis Bacon and including my early fascination with flowers, I have developed my current body of work. The year 2011 marks the beginning of my journey with abstract flower photography. I am continuing to build a body of work, but in the meantime, I have decided to post one photo a day to keep my creative brain working.