If it weren’t for the influences of her grandmother, Ruth Jackson (RUJA) and grandfather, Lorenzo Hill, Artondra Hall wouldn’t have had an interest in photography. Both of them were photographers during a time when the majority of minorities were taking jobs as janitors, busboys and maids. Artondra grew up in a household where bathrooms became instant dark rooms, and earthen paints were made from the pigments of flowers, mud and grass. She spent many hours studying her grandmother’s brush work in oil and acrylics, as well as her grandmother’s pastel and charcoal techniques Artondra says that she got a good sense of the depth of the many facets of her grandmother’s talent as an artist and photographer during those years she worked with her grandmother in her photography studio and helped set up the family booth for art shows. Her grandfather always had cameras around the house and he took a lot of family pictures. One of his cardinal rules was that the kids could not touch his camera. And now, that he’s gone his library of photography books are like gold to her. Artondra says that she once spent an entire summer digesting the knowledge in those books. Sometimes now when she is behind the camera, she feels like he’s there with her when she is looking through the view finder. Artondra also gives a good deal of credit to her talented mother, LaSondra Lomax. Mrs. Lomax sewed and created many fashions and kept her two daughters Artondra and Artonik busy with crafts and other projects. So it was no surprise when many years later Artondra declared she wanted to follow in the foot steps of her grandmother and grandfather as a photographer.

Artondra’s shooting style developed from taking pictures of her husband’s stage performances with his various bands. Artondra said that, “I guess you could say my biggest influence has been stage performance photography. I developed a love for the way stage lighting framed each performer and knew I had to capture those scenes in a photo realistic image”. Eventually, her photographic interests grew to include still life, landscapes and natural settings, and portrait photography, as she explored various subject matters under various lighting conditions. She is in what she calls her Ansell Adams phase, using natural light whenever possible for its dynamic range in shadow and light. Artondra has incorporated the high dynamic range (HDR) technique into her portfolio. HDR images more accurately depict the wide range of light intensity levels found in real scenes, ranging from direct sunlight to faint starlight.

Although Artondra is a Maryland based photographer, she finds many opportunities to travel to other states and cities to shoot. She has completed photography projects in New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Arizona. She calls the e eastern seaboard home not only because of family, but because of the textures found in the landscapes from the mountains to the shores.

Currently, she has work featured on www.cultgoddessmagazine.com. Artondra is a regular artist at Gallery 788 and has even had some work published in the Gallery’s one year anniversary commemorative book. Recently, an article about one of her husband’s bands appeared and attached to the article was one of the first pictures she’d taken of that group performing 20 years ago. Artondra says that she is amazed that she’s been doing photography for 20 years and she look forward to doing it for another 40 years. Her one claim to fame…She is one of the few people you will meet who can be “Googled” by her first name only.

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Artondra Hall Photography

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