RICHARD PETERSON
Richard Peterson is an American photographer born in 1951 in California. He began photographing at an early age. Artists' portraits, punk rock era portraits of musicians, nudes, dark nature shots, and surrealist photographs make up his broad oeuvre. Surrounded by the Beat Generation, Punk rock, and the underground scene since the 1960s, his extensive archive of photographs spans nearly five decades. He also has a large collection of collaborations, where his photographs are put into fabric, collage and other mixed media.
In the 1960s, he worked for a radio station photographing entertainers such as Buffalo Springfield, Turtles, Byrds, Standells, Strawberry Alarm Clock, Cream and Mothers of Invention. In the early 1970s, he wrote a political-satire column and record reviews, and photographed for an underground publication called "The Door" in San Diego alongside writers such as Lester Bangs, Cameron Crowe, and Mick Garris.
In the later 1970s, after moving to the San Francisco area to continue his studies in photojournalism, Peterson became the "Aerial Photographer" for a publication initially financed by Allen Ginsburg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti called "Search & Destroy." During this period he worked with bands such as Devo, Talking Heads, Iggy Pop, Nico, Blondie, Pere Ubu, Weirdos, Screamers, Dead Kennedys and the Ramones. He also opened his first studio in San Francisco in 1978, next door to a fledgling new company called Victoria's Secret that became his first commercial client.
In 1981, Peterson moved to San Diego where he opened Pink & Pearl Gallery and his second studio. The gallery showcased his outrageous underground friends from the punk-art world and received wide attention. He continued to create fine-art photography while being supported by his photography for commercial clients.
In 1987, Peterson moved to Colorado to work as a fashion photographer for the French-based Printemps, and to open his third studio on Wewatta Street in Lower Downtown Denver.
In 2000, after developers razed his building to build loft spaces, Peterson moved his studio to Indian Hills where he works 150 feet from his house in a dense forest on a mountaintop. He currently teaches and helps organize events at Working With Artists, and has taught at Grant Gallery, Denver Darkroom and Illuminate Workshops.
Although he mainly considers himself an art photographer greatly influenced by Surrealist thought, he works commercially as a fashion and portrait photographer, and is a museum specialist photographing events, art, artist portraits, and installations. Peterson also runs a progressive contemporary-art photo group called Heads of Hydra, a group of rebellious and freethinking photo-artists.