Woody Walters has become one of the nation’s premier artists. Walters’ photographs are a celebration of renewal and change. In his latest portfolio “Reflections of Christ,” Walters has pushed the boundary of photography to new and exciting limits allowing him to give a visual testimony in strikingly complex imagery. During a career that spans decades, Walters evolved from a commercial photographer and fine art black and white landscapes artist, to one of the newest Christian artists. His client list included Walt Disney World, Blockbuster Video, Illford Photo, Mamiya Camera, Calumet, and Burger King.
His black and white landscapes are reminiscent of Ansel Adams and depict the beauty of nature’s diversity. The portfolio ”Faces In Time” takes the viewer back to an age of Americana that is forever lost. One of the images from that portfolio, “Lill”, was purchased for donation to the Smithsonian. In 1994 his distinctive photographs of Florida were published by the University of Florida Press in a book entitled, “Visions of Florida.”
The reason for the inspiration for “Reflections of Christ” came from a very spiritual place within his heart. “After viewing the many negative portrayals of Christ that are found in art today, I felt compelled to take a positive approach to the depiction of Christ. With the experiments in combined imagery this work is now a reality.”
Through his diverse portfolio subjects, Walters’s work is sought after and appeals to a very wide audience. Walters’ works appear in museums and galleries throughout the world, including Ansel Adams private collection, the Smithsonian, the Tampa Museum of Art, the Yergeau-Musee International d’Art in Canada, the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Hoyt Institute of Art, the Pensacola Museum, the Madison Museum of Art, a private collection at the Vatican in Rome, and is featured in many international tours with the United States Embassy.
Recently Walters has begun to enter the Professional Photographers of America print competition and has been the top photographer in Iowa three years in a row. He is on schedule to receive his master’s degree next year. Three out of four images were chosen for the prestigious loan collection and he received the coveted Medlar Award for the top portrait at the April 2000 affiliated competition. To date Walters has collected an astounding five Kodak Gallery Awards in just 4 short years.
Walters contributes to many business and industry magazines on a regular basis and is in demand on the lecture circuit. He teaches across the country offering photographic workshops for beginners to the very advanced. Currently he is teaching theory of Photography, Large Format, The Zone System, and Photoshop at his alma mater, Hawkeye Community College.
When he is not teaching he is doing what he loves most, creating images. He resides in Grundy Center, Iowa with his wife Ninya and their son, Wyatt.