John Grusd

Country: United States 🇺🇸

Photography was woven into some of my earliest childhood memories because of my dad, an accomplished amateur photographer who was never very far from his twin lens reflex camera. I captured my first images with that camera at the age of three. I played at taking pictures with my dad’s obsolete cameras and my favorite children’s picture books were his portfolios of Ansel Adams and Edward Weston prints. I received my very own camera, a Kodak Brownie Starflex, when I was six years old and have had a succession of cameras ever since. Photography was a constant that continued with me from childhood to the present.
Graduating from California State University at Long Beach with a degree in Industrial Design, my working life has led me through the creative disciplines of design, special effects for television, advertising graphics, video games and animation. A professional life in and around the arts as well as a lifelong student of art history has pointed me toward an aesthetic that reflects many creative styles. Design, painting, drawing, sculpture, graphics and illustration as well as photography influence what I try to achieve through the viewfinder. This broad foundation in art allows me to find inspiration in traditional compositions as well as modern non-representational approaches.
Simply put, I photograph ideas. I approach a subject with a particular aesthetic or process in mind and I naturally respond to patterns, shapes or other elements of design and composition. The process can lead me to an image that can either be traditional or challenging. Whatever it may be, it’s the idea that leads me there. I hope you enjoy the work.