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Arts & Entertainment

Workhouse Artist of the Week: Wayne Guenther

First Featured Artist for the Workhouse Photography Group

Wayne Guenther shot his first photo in the late 1950’s, “I kept stealing my sister’s Brownie Hawkeye,” said Guenther. Today, Guenther is a one-man photography business, documenting events, shooting portraits, photographing artwork for painters, and pursuing his own art. His work will be on display Wednesdays through Saturdays in May in Gallery W-16 at the Workhouse Arts Center. 

“My underlying visual orientation is toward abstract and medium to close-up views,” said Guenther. “I’m always looking for something visual.” Guenther and his wife travel frequently, and he roams with his camera looking for interesting images. “I’m especially drawn to curves, circles, angles, shadow definitions, and diagonal lines,” he said. His photographs can be viewed on his website.

Guenther was raised in a musical family, and earned a degree in music education from Michigan State. But he never taught school. “After graduation in 1966 I joined the army and found it quite compatible,” he said. He served for 22 years.  

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One of his first assignments was in Germany as a logistics supply and maintenance officer. It was then that his avocation in photography began.  “There were four or five of us who kept running into each other in the photo lab on base,” said Guenther. “We decided to meet once a week and share two to three prints we’d shot during the week for feedback.”

This group was his biggest influence. “I learned the rule of thirds, framing in the viewfinder, many of the important basics of photography,” he said.  From 1970 until 1995 Guenther said he shot thousands of color slides.  “When inkjet printers got better and better, I bought a film scanner and began shooting and scanning into my PC,” he said.

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Photographic technology has changed dramatically since the 1950s, but the basics of creation have stayed the same. “The biggest change for me is that I no longer have to worry about economizing on my trigger finger,” said Guenther. “I used to size-up my shot, take one or two exposures, and that was it,” he said. Digital photography enables unlimited shooting.

In 1994 Guenther juried into Gallery West in Alexandria, and began his professional fine art photography career.  He became of member of The Art League of Alexandria in 1998, and his work was often featured in the Bin Gallery, an invitation only showcase for the best of the best. He was one of the founding artists in the Workhouse Photography Group.

Now semi-retired, Guenther said he enjoys working from home as a general purpose commercial photographer.  He is also the documentation photographer for the Lorton Arts Foundation, responsible for recording the historical record and transition of the Workhouse buildings from prison to Art Center.

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