Travis Melin

Travis Melin was a professional Photographer from 2001 – 2015 and lived in Minnesota.  He used a Large Format 4x5" camera with film and then began to incorporate digital captures into his body of work.  He considered his camera a conduit between his spirit and that of the natural world.  His field process tended to be less linear than most other photographers as his actions and decisions were primarily based on "feeling" an image rather than "seeing" it.  It was his personal challenge to continually create at a level that surpassed what he had already achieved.  A successful image in his mind, “is one that evokes an emotional response from it's viewer, embodies a genuine sense of spirit and is sound in artistic form.”  In the new digital age, he felt there was too much emphasis placed on post production in an effort to make a great image rather than taking the time to engage with the subject and environment to get it right in camera.  Art was “a personal exploration into the core of who we are at the moment of it's creation.  The process of conveying feeling and emotion through art is met with challenges, difficulties and ultimately, breakthroughs.”  These breakthroughs introduce (to both the creator and the viewer) a new perspective of which the conscious mind could never have conceived.  Art was his story, his life, and most importantly his "voice" that he left with the world.