Pat Corrigan - Fine Art Photography
BIOGRAPHY
Pat Corrigan developed his interest in photography in the early 1970's
while an undergraduate student at John Carroll
University in Cleveland, Ohio. Although initial attempts at image making
were hampered by inferior equipment and a lack of adequate technical knowledge,
his awareness of the potential of the medium was sparked upon finding a
copy of The Eloquent Light by Ansel Adams in the college library.
Following graduation with a BA degree in Sociology in 1973, Pat sought to
improve his technical skills. Having seen an exhibition of Adams prints
in Mexico City and enthralled with the technical quality, he enrolled in
an Adams workshop in Yosemite, CA. Following the successful completion of
the workshop and in search of greater technical proficiency, Pat enrolled
in the MFA/Photo program at the Rochester
Institute of Technology. Although unable to complete his studies there,
Pat considers his time at RIT as crucial to the development of his vision,
for it was there that he was first exposed to the work of August Sander
and Walker Evans. It was the work of these individuals, along with the previously
experienced work of Adams and Edward Weston, which was to form the earliest
and strongest influence on the development of Pat's style.
In 1976, Pat secured a part time teaching position at the Cuyahoga
Community College in Cleveland, OH. He held this position through to
the late 1980's when he moved over to Ursuline
College in Pepper Pike, OH. In the meantime, he has also held teaching
positions at Notre Dame College
of Ohio and The University of Akron
in Akron, OH. In more recent years, Pat switched hats and went back to being
a student, taking courses in digital photography at Cuyahoga Community College.
Although the subject matter of Pat's images covers a wide range of material
from numerous geographical locations, there is an overriding interest in
those things which depict the temporal aspect of man and his existence.
Numerous trips to the southwestern United States has fueled much of his
work in the last two decades and seems to be an area tightening its spiritual
grip on him. Of most recent interest are his cemetery subjects. This interest
has taken Pat across much of the eastern and southern United States and
also to Great Britain thanks to an Individual Artists Fellowship from the
Ohio Arts Council. On subsequent
trips, he returned to London in 1996 and then ventured to Paris, France
in 1997.
As of 2006, Pat has closed his darkroom, sold his film cameras and has
gone entirely digital, completing a transition that started in 1995. Since
911, the process of carrying film cameras on planes has become nightmarish
at best. Also, as most of Pat's travels since 1997 have been by motorcycle,
the use of smaller digital cameras makes the most sense.
Pat is the loving husband of Beth, the father of Ryan, Courtney and
Seth and the proud grandfather of Mason and Kaylynn.