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Edward Robison III A Missouri native, Edward Robison III got hooked on photography right out of college. Since then, he's dedicated himself to documenting the nature and landscapes of the Midwest. His work can be found in many private and public collections, including the U.S. Federal Courthouse, BKD, Capital One and the National Arbor Day Foundation. He's the owner and operator of Sacred Earth Gallery in Eureka Springs. Q: Please tell us a little bit about your work. What do you create? A: In the most simplistic terms, I am primarily a fine-art nature/ landscape photographer. Although the imagery I capture is traditional, my work also incorporates a lot of cutting-edge technology, such as augmented and virtual reality. I have been capturing images of the natural world for approximately 25 years, and I began publishing interactive books of my photographic work and building iOS and Android applications to accompany them around five years [ago]. My first interactive book brought my photographs to life with augmented reality and time-lapse photography. When you would point a mobile device's camera at the printed book page or framed art, it would "come to life" and animate with a time lapse I had created at the same time I had captured the still image. More recently, my books and prints have taken things a step further and now incorporate 3-D models to build entire 3-D scenes of the still image. Q: When did you first start thinking of yourself as an artist/ creator/maker? What were some of the first things you remember creating? A: I always enjoyed art classes in grade school, and when I got to high school, I took as many art classes as I could. I then began to focus on painting as a possible career path. I gravitated towards photo-realism and tried to re-create reality with a paintbrush. During a high school photography class, we studied the work of Jerry Uelsmann and at the same time in my painting class we were studying Salvador Dali's work. They were both working in a surrealistic style, and it heavily influenced my work at the time. Q: Where can we see/purchase your work? A: Currently, you can view my work on my website at www.ECR3. com. I also co-own and operate the Sacred Earth Gallery with my wife, Janalee Robison. It's located just west of Eureka Springs on [U.S.] 62, and features my work, my son's photography and my wife's paintings. We are currently closed due to covid, but hope to reopen in the fall. I have also created a 360-degree interactive virtual tour of the solo exhibition I had last year at the Fort Smith Regional Art Museum: virtuelle3D.com/ NatureOfPhotography Q: What's your favorite part of the creative process? A: I'm torn between two aspects of my work. On one hand, getting out into nature and enjoying the peace and solitude it has to offer is what got me started in photography and is still one of my favorite parts of my artistic journey. On the other hand, learning new skills and problem solving are constant driving forces in my work. I really enjoy the technical challenges that come with creating a unique image or new type of media. I am constantly trying to push the boundaries of what photography is and will be in the future. That kind of trailblazing can be extremely challenging at times, but the reward of seeing a completed work is always worth the effort. Q: Have there been any responses to your art that you found particularly moving or memorable? A: Many years ago, I sold a large framed photograph, which is of one of my personal all time favorite photographs I have created, titled "Ancient Spirit." The photograph is a black and white of an old twisted cedar tree clinging to a bluff high above the Buffalo River. A couple months after I sold the photograph, I had the customer contact me asking if they could exchange the photograph for a different one. The lady told me that she bought it because the tree reminded her of her late husband. She explained that she absolutely loved the photograph, but that every time she passed by it she would break down in tears. She said it was just too emotional a piece, and she really needed to exchange it. Q: How has your work changed or evolved over time? A: Although my subject matter has remained pretty constant throughout my artistic career, WOW, has photography changed since I first began! I started with black and white photography around 1990, and I got serious about capturing nature images with a large-format film camera in 1997. Around 2003, I began to make the transition to digital photography. However, it wasn't until 2008 that I fully transitioned to an entirely digital work flow. Digital photography, of course, had a profound effect on my JULY 5-11, 2020 WHAT'S UP! 9 See Makers Page 40 GO ONLINE! Lisa Krannichfeld Edward Robison III During covid-19 closures, see Lisa Krannichfeld's at lisakrannich- feld.com and saatchiart.com and Edward Robison's work at ECR3. com. Also enjoy a 360-degree interactive virtual tour of his Fort Smith Regional Art Museum exhibit at virtuelle3D.com/ NatureOfPhotography. Edward C. Robison III is a photographer and owner of the Sacred Earth Gallery in Eureka Springs. (Courtesy Photo/Edward C. Robison III) "Sam's Last Song," by Edward C. Robison III. Robison has been experimenting with multiple concepts to make static time- lapses appear more three-dimensional when viewed with an augmented reality app. To create this interactive content, Robison masked out the foreground rocks from the background timelapse video and separated them by a few millimeters in virtual 3D space. This creates a parallax effect which gives the viewer the illusion of a 3D video. (Photo by Edward C. Robison III)