For more than half a century, Craig Shumate, has used photography as a form of art and expression.

While still in high school, his father encouraged him to not only take photographs, but to develop and print his work. Craig still remembers the feeling of magic when black-and-white images appeared in the developer tray. He was creating his own art.

In 1966 Army Captain Shumate was sent to Viet Nam. While there he purchased his first serious camera, a Nikon F. With his Nikon, the sharp detail and color of Kodachrome film, and the image-rich environment of Southeast Asia at war, Craig began creating art of a more realistic and personal nature.

In 1986 Craig and his wife Kaye visited Monet’s studio at Giverny. Fascinated by the Impressionist artist’s style, Craig tried unsuccessfully to replicate it with his Nikon camera. While the experiment failed, the idea remained firmly implanted in his mind. 

With the turn of the new century digital photography came into maturity. In 2004, Craig left behind the old film technique and ventured into the ever expanding world of digital capture and began the steep learning curve of Photoshop.

As chance would have it, two years later the St. Louis Art Museum exhibited a collection of circa 1900 photographs, entitled “Impressionist Camera”. Craig had new inspiration for his two-decade old idea.

His current painterly work is a direct result of that Impressionist exhibit; the idea planted in Craig’s mind while at Monet’s studio and hours of work with Adobe Photoshop--the new digital darkroom.

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Please enjoy the images you see here and when looking at them, remember the 50 years of experimentation that created them..