Russ Armstrong, Biographical Data
Russ is retired from a career in computer software development and information system consulting and is now dedicated to photography full time.
He first seriously studied photography at the Institute of Design, Chicago, in the mid-1950s, with Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind and then graduated from Arizona State University, as an art major/music minor. He joined the Air Force as a Photographic Officer in the early 60s where he was able to pursue large format black and white and color photography. Upon leaving the Air Force he gave up photography as anything but a casual pursuit due to the scale and cost of the equipment that had formed the basis of his work. Returning to graduate studies in Art History and Philosophy at Arizona State, he became curious about the emerging computer revolution and ended up becoming a programmer and systems engineer and designer. During his years in the computer industry he continued to paint and create collages, exhibiting from time to time. As computer graphics matured, in the early 80s, he began to introduce computer-based images into his work. In the nineties he would carry a portable studio along to his consulting assignments, consisting of a laptop computer, a desktop color printer, and the early digital cameras. After retiring, he was attracted to the digital laboratory at Lafayette College, Easton PA where he participated as a Visiting Artist in 2003/4 As digital photography began to approach the quality of film-based equipment he began using more images in his work. When the quality of digital equipment came to equal and then exceed film quality, he returned to photography as his primary mode of expression. He is a frequent exhibitor in prestigious Tri-State exhibitions, and had a one-man show at Lafayette College in 2004.