John Knopf

With a passion for the outdoors, at the age of 4, California native John Knopf was given his first camera and has since traveled all over the world for his photography. Completely self-taught, John has taken his art from a passionate hobby to a successful enterprise. Knopf invited Cath Simard to TIMEPieces.

 

Artist Statement

Title: Into the Blue

I’ve always found that art is a manifestation of an artist’s intention. Just like making art or taking the perfect photograph, building the future is a creative act. What makes great art? Love, authenticity, and focus. If you want to make your art better, you put all your heart and focus into it. So, if we all want to live in a future better than our past, we need to show up with all our hearts and create that. We need to take love, authenticity, and focus and then elevate them as more valuable than competition and greed. Our intention matters when we make art, just as it matters when we build the companies and the systems that govern them. The future will be better beyond our wildest dreams if we all set our intentions, focus, and build with love.

 

About the Artist

John Knopf is passionate about nature, raised on the belief that one should march to the beat of their own drum. Growing up on the central coast and spending his summers hiking, he learned from the best. John attributes his outdoor obsession to his family moving around a lot growing up. Since then John has become widely acclaimed for his panoramic landscape views and his ability to capture spectacular beauty through a camera lens. With a fast-growing following, John has set out on a journey of discovering the great art shows of nature’s light, and invites you to come along. “It’s not about the photo, it’s about the hunt. The bigger the challenge the larger the reward”, says Knopf, who opened his first gallery at the Stratosphere Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas in 2012 and a second location in Minneapolis in 2017.

“There is something about the stillness of a photo that is just completely calming. Unlike a film, which gets 30 frames per second to make a moment perfect, a photographer gets one frame. One frame to capture a perfect moment that will never be seen again. Sometimes you have to hike miles carrying loads of equipment in the middle of a jungle – by yourself. Nothing is more satisfying to me than walking away with that one epic shot. I believe that landscape photography not only vastly increases our awareness of the fascinating world around us but reminds us the importance of preserving and protecting it”, says Knopf.

@johnknopfphotos | @johnknopfphotos | www.jknopf.com

View on OpenSea here.

Contact us at letters@time.com.