Banje Beach, Dubrovnik, Croatia

Bill Phelps was born in St. Paul Minnesota in 1965. Self-taught, he attributes his inspirations to the artists and scientists of the past and present whose work, he says, echoes the true power and beauty of simplicity. His work has been exhibited in New York and London and is the recipient of the 2001 Grand Prize of portraits for the World Press. Working with an 8 x 10 wooden field camera, his process is calm and deliberate, with what he calls a “clarity of purpose” behind his compositions, though he still welcomes mistakes and an element of the “poetic’ in his work. He calls Brooklyn home.