Steve Kiser

Artist Statement

I have never set out to produce images of one specific topic. I spend years collecting images that respond to my presence.  

Many keep asking why I have stopped photographing people. I haven't. I now photograph what they and nature have done and the messages they have left for us to decipher. These images are their personal portraits now.  

As a photographer, with a background in music and sculpture, I have been able to relay a distinctive and individual interpretation of seeing through the camera's lens. The use of space, light, and time plays a vital part in my images.

Photography for me has always been an expedition into the unknown. The many paths that lie ahead can unlock an immense variety of possibilities and embark one on an intriguing visual exploration. These paths invite me to explore my environment and then question what I encounter. The Hawaiian phrase; “NA NA I KE KUMU" (Look to the source), has always been my guide.

Artist Bio

Steve Kiser is an artist, arts administrator, and educator.  Born in Hawaii where spent his formative years absorbing his Hawaiian culture, which later became the foundation of his art.  He earned a BPA from Brooks Institute of Photography and a Master in Fine Arts from San Jose State University. 

He has been on assignment for several international publications, college arts educator, given workshops, and exhibited his work worldwide.   He has been on the boards of The Center For Creative Arts and Sciences, American Indian Contemporary Arts, and Hands Across the Water.  Steve presently operates his own art studio in Palo Alto, California.  He has also been the lead instructor for the Oliver Gagliani's Zone System and Master workshops.  As an arts administrator and consultant to the fine arts and educational community, he has created mentoring programs for young local emerging artists, created workshops, established artist in residence programs, worked with native and indigenous artists throughout the West and South Pacific including Brazil, Philippines, and Viet Nam.  As a curator, he showed one of the first Mainland Chinese photo exhibits in the US and has been guest curator on many local, and international art projects.  

Steve  Kiser's artwork has been influenced by artists such as Oliver Gagliani, and Josef Sudek.  Each of these artists approaches their art with a very different eye, yet are able to construct and deliver true individual insights to the visual world.  Steve strives to do the same.