Bill Travis
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Bill Travis (born 1957) is an American
photographer A photographer (the Greek language, Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographe ...
known for his atmospheric landscapes and experimentation with alternative photographic techniques. Travis explains that his "work is... an inquiry into time." His discovery of photography came through art history—he earned a Ph.D. in medieval art and taught at the university level for several years—and this background has influenced his creative work. From 1995 to 2002, his photography of medieval sculpture and architecture appeared in prestigious journals, ranging from '' Arte medievale'' (Italy) to ''
Artibus et Historiae ''Artibus et Historiae'' is a semi-annual publication of art historical research published by IRSA (Institute for Art Historical Research) since 1980. It is a scholarly peer review journal embracing a broad range of topics within the field of art ...
'' (Poland), ''
Gazette des Beaux-Arts The ''Gazette des Beaux-Arts'' was a French art review, founded in 1859 by Édouard Houssaye, with Charles Blanc as its first chief editor. Assia Visson Rubinstein was chief editorial secretary under the direction of George Wildenstein from 1936 ...
'' (France), ''
Konsthistorisk Tidskrift ''Konsthistorisk tidskrift'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed Swedish academic journal on art history that was established in 1932 by ''Konsthistoriska sällskapet'' (the Society of Art Historians) in Stockholm. The journal was published until 1967 und ...
'' (Sweden), and '' Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte'' (Germany). Beginning in 2003, he expanded his subject matter to the human figure and took to experimenting with photographic transfers on gilt boards, using a technique of his invention that let the gold shine through to the surface. The result is something close in spirit to the Byzantine
icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...
. More recently, Travis has developed other techniques that explore the frontier between painting and photography, such as transfers on mirror, glass, mother of pearl, and tinfoil. The cities he has photographed most extensively are
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
,
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
,
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
,
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400  ...
,
Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
, and
Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
. For the past several years, he has photographed parks, gardens, and other sites of historic significance, including
Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...
,
Sanssouci Sanssouci () is a historical building in Potsdam, near Berlin. Built by Prussian King Frederick the Great as his summer palace, it is often counted among the German rivals of Versailles. While Sanssouci is in the more intimate Rococo style and ...
,
Hadrian's Villa Hadrian's Villa ( it, Villa Adriana) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site comprising the ruins and archaeological remains of a large villa complex built c. AD 120 by Roman Emperor Hadrian at Tivoli outside Rome. The site is owned by the Republic of ...
, and
Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
. Since 2009, he has also worked on various photo-based artist books and scrolls. A New York-based photographer, Travis has shown his work at museums, universities, public venues, and commercial galleries in New York City, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, Palm Beach, Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Rome, Castel Gandolfo, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, São Paulo, Lima, and Montevideo. He was interviewed for Italian television on RomaUno in June 2005 and has lectured on his art at Columbia University. His works belong to several public and private collections around the world. Portfolios in print media include ''Pref'' (2009), David Leddick's ''The Nude Male: 21st Century Visions'' (2008), ''Gab'' (2008) and ''Mein schwules Auge 3'' (2006). Brian Paul Clamp, author of an essay in Travis’s recent monograph, ''Along the Appian Way'' (2007), writes of an “otherworld n this body of workwhere the real and the imaginary intersect.” A second monograph, ''Parks and Gardens in Lazio: A Meditation,'' appeared in 2008. Writing in the exhibition catalogue to the show in Castelgandolfo, Stefano Abbadessa Mercanti finds in his art “an unusual character that recalls the great works of the past, while also addressing contemporary issues.” Images can be seen on his website
www.billtravisphoto.com


General references

''Pref,'' February 2009. (two pages) David Leddick, ''The Nude Male: 21st Century Visions,'' New York: Universe, 2008. (portfolio) Bill Travis, ''Parks and Gardens in Lazio: A Meditation,'' Grottaferrata (Italy): Mercanti, 2008. (monograph with 50 full-color illustrations) “Romantik verspricht mehr: Unter Wasser mit Bill Travis,” ''Gab Magazin,'' February 2008, pp. 24–25. (portfolio) Krystyna Lemanowicz, ''Z miloscia ku swiatlu'' Pila (Poland), 2007. (sample photographs, including bookcover) Bill Travis, ''Along the Appian Way,'' with an essay by Brian Paul Clamp, Grottaferrata (Italy): Mercanti, 2007. (monograph with 51 full-color illustrations) Rinaldo Hopf and Axel Shock, ''Mein schwules Auge 3,'' Tübingen (Germany), 2006. (portfolio) ''The Intimate Portrait/Ritratto Intimo: Bill Travis, Chiara Abbaticchio,'' exh. cat., Grottaferrata (Italy), 2005. (two-person show)


Public collections

Cabinet des Estampes Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...
, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.
Société française de photographie The Société française de photographie (SFP) is an association, founded on 15 November 1854, devoted to the history of photography. It has a large collection of photographs and old cameras. Among the founding members were Olympe Aguado, Hippoly ...
, Paris.
Dumbarton Oaks Dumbarton Oaks, formally the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, is a historic estate in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It was the residence and garden of wealthy U.S. diplomat Robert Woods Bliss and his wife, M ...
(Harvard University), Washington, DC. Yale University, New Haven, CT. Portuguese Center of Photography, Porto. Photography Collection, New York Public Library.
Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts The is a gallery of photography in the Kiyosato region of the city of Hokuto, Yamanashi (Japan). The gallery was founded in 1995; Eikoh Hosoe has been its director since its opening. The gallery, which also refers to itself as "K*MoPA", "emb ...
, Hokuto (Japan). Museo de la Fotografía, Rafaela (Argentina). Schwules Museum, Berlin. The Kinsey Institute, Indiana University, Bloomington. New York University, New York City. Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, New York City (Dance Collection).


External links


Bill Travis's official websiteSociété Française de Photographie, official websiteDumbarton Oaks, official websitePortuguese Center of Photography, official website
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20100516205218/http://www.mercantieditore.com/ Mercanti Editore, official websitebr>Arte medievale official websiteArtibus et Historiae, issue 45Konsthistorisk Tidskrift official websiteZeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte official website
* ttp://www.incubuschoice.com/closeup_1793_en_bill_travis.html Interview with Bill Travis, Incubus' Choice, October 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Travis, Bill 1957 births Living people American photographers