James R. Margolis Photographic Art

The Photograph As Contemporary Art

     I am a semi-retired physician, who has been a photo nut since age nine. I started with an Argus C3 35 mm rangefinder camera in 1952. Although I experimented over the years with other formats, 35mm was my workhorse until digital photography became available. My work to that point was mostly with transparencies.

In my profession, interventional cardiology, I was intimately involved with imaging. In the late '70s and early '80s, working with a physicist friend, we developed and published on a prototype digital video system that was a forerunner to standard systems used in modern cardiac catheterization laboratories.

     The advent of digital photography was an epiphany for me. I was an early adopter. Forty-five years of film had taught me to carefully compose photographs, and to make each picture count. Although this is still an admirable discipline, there are many great photos  that are missed by a frugal approach. Digital photography has allowed us to capture the great shots between the ones to which we used to limit ourselves. The rapid evolution of digital cameras has expanded photographic horizons exponentially for amateur and professional alike. For the amateur, highly sophisticated equipment is now available at modest prices. Only a few years ago, such equipment could only be purchased at prices out of the reach of most amateur photographers.

     During 35 years as an interventional cardiologist, I have had opportunities to work and lecture on five continents and throughout the United States. Although my medical work consumed the vast majority of my time, whenever I travelled I always took a small but sophisticated camera with me. This has allowed me to capture not only landscapes and monuments, but also the faces of friends from all over the World at work and at play.

     Three years ago, I entered a "semi-retired" mode. This has allowed me to among other things concentrate on photography. I have had the opportunity to improve my basic skills, further master the boundless capabilities of modern digital SLRs, become increasingly skilled in post processing techniques, and organize hundreds of old photographs, some of which are absolute gems that had been long forgotten.

     With a home in Miami, a second home in the Colorado mountains, and continued lecturing around the World photographic opportunities abound every day of the year.

     I think of these pages as a photographic art gallery, and the images herein as contemporary fine art. The mission of this website is to share my photographic experiences. I hope that these images will provide for you as much pleasure as I have had in producing them.

jrm