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Stephen Datnoff (originally Datnov from Lithuania) grew up in Alabama from 1954-1974 and moved to various parts of Oregon until settling in the Hood River Valley where he has been since 1978. Forestry initially brought him to the Pacific Northwest but he has expanded and adapted his eclectic talents to now include complete home restoration, dance instruction, guided tours, and location scout.
As a photographer Datnoff strives for each photograph to be studied by the viewer - not to analyze how it is done but perhaps why it was done. His body of work is entitled "Film -What you see is what you get!" He says; "Photography is like music... there are dynamics of rhythm in form and shape, composition and of course color. The camera is an attuned photographic instrument, the negative (or in my case, the transparency) is the score and the final print is the performance."
Mostly self-taught the photographer began printing his own work in 1979, from color transparencies and black and white fiber. He studied the "zone system" of black & white film calibration and printmaking and was trained by the master photographer, Oliver Gagliani of San Francisco until his death in 1993.
The camera equipment used is a Deardorf 5 X 7 view camera and Rolleils Twin Lens Reflex (medium format). All of these are from the 50's & 60's; no batteries; all manually adjusted with a handheld light meter.
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