Ron Lowery

Born in Washington, DC and raised in northern Virginia, I became interested in photography at age 16. What started off as a hobby rapidly turned into a passion. In order to afford all this expensive gadgetry I decided to pursue photography professionally. You can see images on http://www.ronlowery.com.

For the next twenty plus years I worked in various fields of photography such as industrial, photojournalism and commercial photography. In 1978 I started my own commercial studio in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Although business was great and I had a lot of fun and interesting experiences, the challenges started disappearing. In my office hangs a cartoon of a frustrated buzzard sitting in a dead tree in the desert. The caption reads "Patience hell, I'm going out and kill something." This cartoon sums up my attitude toward life.

With a low threshold for boredom, I took up scuba diving to do underwater photography and at the same time got up to my neck in computers. Then, a couple of years later, I also started building my first plane. People probably thought I was having a mid-life crisis--not so. I've been having one all my life!

In addition to these interests, I have also developed a great fascination with astronomy. To me, astronomy is not just the study of distant objects and seeing back in time. It's the vastness of energy that captivates me. We are energy and everything around us is in a constant state of transition. Energy is the most important ingredient I want my images to have. With cameras I could express what I saw and now with the help of computers I can express what I imagine. Where the plane and scuba help me explore the real world in 3D space, the computer allows me to explore my imagination. For over 10 years I considered my monitor a porthole I crawl through to escape reality and my tablet pen my sword for fighting the evils of mediocrity. Even though these concept images sold very successfully in advertising and editorially all over the world I yearned to travel and explore.

In February 2000, My son, Alan, and I completed my second airplane I named Cloud Chaser. It didn't take me long to realize the lure of this 'She Devil in the Sky' was more than I could resist. With twin engines and six hours endurance on a few gallons of fuel, I felt I could now afford to "live in the sky." Right away I started exploring and photographing everything from the desert of the Southwest, autumn colors in New England to the gator swamps of Florida. Now with these tools that give me limitless perspectives I will never again be tormented by the sign along the trail that says "Photo Vantage Point."

Still seeking even greater adventures, my wife, Sue, and I decided to retrace the route of Lewis and Clark in celebration of the bicentennial event. Unlike the solo projects done in the past, this took a team of four people and a dog. For three months and 14,000 miles we followed the Missouri River and several other rivers culminating at the Pacific Ocean. Since every day and every mile I was constantly nourished with new challenges, I felt it was more an artistic sabbatical than a project. The resulting products of our incredible adventure are a book, DVD and fine art prints from the photos.

Because of the great popularity of our book "Chasing Lewis & Clark Across America: A 21st Century Aviation Adventure," I now stay busy doing lectures, media interviews and writing articles. Even though people are fascinated with my images and artistic and adventurous life style, they have no idea what it's like being a frustrated artist that is never satisfied with his work.

We are currently working on another book about the Tennessee River, from my unusual perspective.