Fine Art Photography

Catherine Walters,
Pam Loudon's artistic career has followed a long and winding path. She discovered her appreciation of modern art at a young age, then got her college degree in education and moved from Oklahoma to California where she spent 20 years—first as a teacher, then a psychologist. Working her “real” job during the day, Loudon spent most evenings assisting a friend who was a photographer. “I worked in the darkroom and dabbled in the studio,” she says. “He told me I had a good eye. That’s when I really got bit by the photography bug.”

Not long after, her husband took a position with Disney, and they moved to Paris, France. Looking for a creative outlet, Loudon took classes at Parsons School of Art & Design, where she studied for almost three years and encountered some of the world’s most famous photographers, including Henri Cartier-Bresson. 

During her time living in France and later, Japan, Loudon took thousands of photographs, but she also began to develop her own style of art, using her photos as a base from which to work. 

“If I can’t distort or manipulate the photograph to make it my vision—just like a painter—I don’t think of it as fine art photography,” she says. “I add different colors of paint and objects to the image, and then retake the photo. Some of my final pieces have been retaken four or five times until I get what I want.”

Currently, Loudon’s work can be seen at CityArts Factory and The Vue gallery, plus a show running through July at the Aloft Orlando hotel, downtown.

This article appears in the July 2014 issue of Orlando Home and Garden.
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