Joseph Wilhelm
Documentary and Landscape Photography

"Photography is an opportunity to see beyond the casual vision of daily life. It is about taking time to notice the poetry of light on form and it offers an opportunity to enjoy the journey and discover something unexpected."

For Joseph, photography is a process, the print itself is neither the beginning nor the end but rather like a circle, a point along the way. He photographs primarily with a 4x5 camera and BetterLight scanning back and often spends hours waiting for the right light or contemplating an environment. His work generally falls into self-assigned series where one image informs another. Joseph states "When a photograph is seen in the context of another, a dialogue begins to take shape. I enjoy being involved in this relationship, in developing the dialogue - it is most always a learning experience." His active projects include Communicating Culture (the Landmarks portfolio) which is an extensive documentary survey of "prehistoric," historic, and contemporary marks on stone from the deserts of California, Nevada and Arizona. Joseph is also working on a project documenting the landscape and structures around the Humboldt Bay and Arcata Bottom in addition to general landscape photography (Landscapes portfolio) which frequently documents the remains of human activity from pre-European culture, 20th century and contemporary industry and recreation. The Dry Earth portfolio is a collection of traditional darkroom photography from the early 1990's.

Joseph has a Master's Degree in art from Humboldt State University (1992). In 1995 he started Meridian Design where he continues to be the principal photographer for a limited number of commercial clients. Joseph is the master printer for his work and a growing number of emerging and established Humboldt County artists.