David McCrae

I started learning the process of photography from my grandparents in Colorado, both dedicated amateur photographers and naturalists. Process was left behind for theory while studying art history at the University of California, San Diego, although chemistry and the beach kept interfering.

With the arrival of the digital darkroom at our Berkeley home in 2000, I began working under the tutelage of Jules Spilman, a painter and sculptor trained at the Chicago Art Institute. He offered me my first show in 2004 at his Gallery and Salon, and so a new phase began.

The history of photography is replete with examples of image capture without a camera. My present focus, ‘From a Scanner, Darkly,’ began when I had no time to work with film. Instead, a scanner and a computer became my substitute for photosensitive materials and a darkroom.

The subject matter comes from the pantry and the garden. Food and flowers; simple subjects but not mundane, for they feed the body and the mind.

Another series of images, ‘Unpacking:’ started when we relocated from Berkeley to Seattle. While unwrapping newsprint from the dishes, I noticed intriguing shapes and shadows. These images are the result of that observation. Both portraits and landscapes are abstract, encouraging viewers to project their own interpretations of the ‘sitter’ or the ‘location’ rather than looking at yet another photograph of a person or place.

I now use both analog and digital image capture, with and without camera and lens. Images are printed digitally with pigment inks on archival paper.

Art History, University of California, San Diego

2019 Associated Arts of Ocean Shores Juried Show, 6/19, Honorable mention
Tsuga Gallery Summer Show, 7/19, Honorable mention
2016 Bank of the Arts National Juried Exhibition, 11/16, 1st Place
311 Gallery 2016 Photography Juried Art Show, 10/16, 2nd Place
Arts of the Terrace, 9/15, 1st Place, Photography
Associated Arts of Ocean Shores ,4/15, 45th Annual Juried Art Show
1st Place, Photography
Valdosta National Juried Competition, 1/13, 4th Place
Estes Park Art Center; Lines into Shapes, 11/2010, Best of Show Photography
Sequim Arts 34th Annual Juried Art Show, 5/2010, Best of Show
Monroe Arts Council Arty Gras, 2/2008, Best of Show Photography

Juried Competitions:
37th Annual Wallowa Valley Festival of Arts September 2019

Photography at the Emerald; 4th Annual Show September 2019

Specto Art Space; Landscape September 2019

Anacortes Arts Festival July -–August 2019

Allied Arts Annual Juried Show July 2019

2019 Associated Arts of Ocean Shores Juried Show June 2019
Honorable mention

Tsuga Gallery Summer Show June - July 2019
Honorable mention

41st National Juried Exhibition; Larsen Gallery March -–April 2019

2019 Annual WA State Juried Art Competition January – February 2019

Salann Magazine – Inaugural Edition February 2019

24th Arts in Harmony 2019 Annual International Show January – February 2019

Alex Ferrone Gallery, Small Bites, Small Works November 2018 – January 2019

In the Fields: Botanical Lore – Arts Benicia November 2018

Core New Art Space: Flora & Fauna September – October 2018

2018 Roslyn Art Fest August 2018

311 Gallery Annual Flowers & Gardens Juried Show July 2018

Tsuga Fine Arts Pacific Northwest Summer Invitational June 2018

Edmonds Arts Festival, Edmonds WA June 2018

Associated Arts of Ocean Shores April 2018
48th Annual Juried Art Show

Specto Gallery; Black & White March 2018

Flora 2018, Columbus State University March 2018

23rd Arts in Harmony 2018 Annual International Show February – May 2018

The 2018 CVG Show January 2018

Valdosta National 2018 January 2018

Las Lagunas Gallery; Botanik November 2017

Ciel Gallery; I Spy with my Little Eye October 2017

30th Annual Northern National Art Competition October 2017

2nd Annual Photography at the Emerald September 2017
Honorable Mention

311 Gallery 2017 Annual Flowers & Gardens Juried Show September 2017

Wallowa Valley Festival of Arts September 2017

Alex Ferrone Gallery July 2017
First Place

Allied Arts Association’s Annual Juried Show July 2017
Merit Award

Tsuga Fine Arts Pacific Northwest Summer Invitational July 2017

Plymouth Center for the Arts June 2017
The Fine Art of Photography 2017

Edmonds Arts Festival, Edmonds, WA June 2017

Landscapes 2017, Exhibition at The Center for May-July 2017
Fine Art Photography

2017 Northwest Fine Arts Competition May 2017

EAFA Open Juried Abstract Show December 2016

2016 Bank of the Arts National Juried Exhibition November 2016
1st Place

Mountlake Terrace Arts of the Terrace October 2106

311 Gallery 2016 Photography Juried Art Show October 2016
2nd Place

Manifest Gallery, OH / REAL-PHOTO September 2106

Wallowa Valley Festival of Arts September 2016

Emerald Art Centers Annual Fall Photography Exhibition August 2016
Honorable Mention

Tsuga Americana and Independence Day July 2016

Edmonds Arts Festival June 2016

Associated Arts of Ocean Shores April 2015
46th Annual Juried Art Show

Texas National Competition & Exhibition April 2016
2016 Amblewood Gallery International Exhibition March 2016
"Affinity"

Anacortes Art in Bloom January 2016

Mountlake Terrace Arts Commission September 2015
Arts of the Terrace 2015
1st Place, Photography

Associated Arts of Ocean Shores April 2015
45th Annual Juried Art Show
1st Place, Photography

Kitsap Arts and Crafts Art Show 2014 July 2014
Second Place, Photography

Valdosta National 2013 Juried Show January 2013
Fourth Place

Estes Park Art Center; Lines into Shapes November 2010
First Place - Photography

Sequim Arts 34th Annual Juried Art Show May 2010
Best of Show

Monroe Arts Council Arty Gras February 2008
Best of Show – Photography

still life, flowers, food, abstract