Mary Mortensen

Mary Mortensen has spent over 30 years as a working photographer and artist and is a respected leader and lecturer in the photographic art industry. She first picked up a camera when her father and brother started a darkroom and knew she had found a new passion. She opened her photography studio 30 years ago with her husband Al and had focused her photography on families and children. Her adorable children’s work has been featured in magazine articles, calendars and enjoyed by clients around the country.  Mary holds the prestigious degrees of Master Artist, Master Photographer and Photographic Craftsman from the Professional Photographers of America.  She is a Life Member of the Professional Photographers of America and a recipient of the Hall of Fame Award from the Wisconsin Professional Photographers Association.  As a member of the Dead Artist Society, Mary continues to pursue her passion for art by studying the works of the Old Masters and transforming their art techniques into modern art.  Mary has always loved nature and the outdoors and has a deep appreciation for fine art landscape and nature photography. It was only natural that at some point she would find her own niche as a fine artist. Mary’s natural love for nature led her to an intense passion and an unparalleled ability to capture the beauty of the flower. Her approach is different in that she photographs most of her floral subjects in a studio environment rather than their natural environment. Mary feels that the controlled lighting brings out details often missed in flowers. She is especially attracted to the intense colors and textures that the studio lighting highlights. Many of her images have a very painterly quality that makes you wonder how did she do that? Many ask, is that a photograph or a painting? As an experienced painter Mary loves that quality in her photography work and credits her many years of lighting experience as the reason her images look the way they do.  Mary's passion for abstract art is expressed in her artwork self-titled "geoscapes".  By incorporating her photography with manipulating pages from print media, she has created dynamic textured art pieces.  Her images have become collectible almost immediately and she looks forward to all of the exciting possibilities as she pursues her passion for fine art.