He's an American visual artist and photographer best known for his bold, colorful photos, eclectic subject matter, and edgy style. He has photographed a wide array of celebrities, boasts a stunning collection of landscape photographs, and is noted for pushing boundaries with his concept collections.
ARTIST STATEMENT "If my art and photos have a mission, it is this: To create and capture scenes, environments, emotions, and feelings and then present them in a way that exaggerates the visual aesthetics. It's only after we open our eyes, can we finally see."~ Tim Eisenhauer
HEAD NOTE: I’m writing this “about me” thing on a whim. I guess I could hire someone to interview me and write it for me, but what fun is that? I usually shoot straight from the hip, so I though best to just write and see what comes out, kind of like throwing up all over the paper, random, unorganized, unstructured, and uncensored. I don’t consider myself a writer — but I'm getting better. I know when my mom reads this, she’s going to print it, get out the red pen, and mark it up. (Thanks Mom) And by the way, sorry for the overwhelming use of the letter “I” (Writing in the third person seemed kinda goofy), sorry for any msplled wrdz, and sorry for any bad grammar (I did'nt do nothin wrong, did I?). Here we go ... the unofficial, sporatic, and psychobabble biography.
By the way, some things below may have changed since I first wrote this, which at the present, could be years and years ago.
Do you remember when you embarked on a roller coaster for the first time? That’s me.
I am part alien, part human, part zombie-vampire, and worried by normal people.
This website is meant to showcase my photography and visual art, so let's start with that ...
I love what I do. I do what I love. It's a path for personal fulfillment, happiness, inspiration, and adventure.
It's 'another' creative outlet for me ... a powerful medium. Evoking an emotion, presenting drama, shifting movement, finding that edge, that 'thing' that makes you look twice -- that's what I'm about.
Compelling photos come from inspiration ... cameras don't take the photos, I do. Plus, I love editing.
I take more of an artistic approach, usually (rather than a commercial approach), I guess.
I photograph things and people that interest me.
Throughout my short time as a photographer/artist, I have had the pleasure of working with or photographing a vast array of public figures and celebrities, including: Sam the Cooking Guy, Playboy models, actresses, Maxim girls, musicians: Paul Oakenfold, The Crystal Method, Theivery Corporation, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Candlebox, Maceo Parker, Big Mountain, The Devastators, The Earful, The Grey Boy Allstars, Karl Denson, Dr. John, Dumstafunk, Ivan Neville, Galactic, George Porter & the Funky Meters, The Flaming Lips, Kaki King, Zoë Keating, Macy Gray, Third Eye Blind, Soulive, Lettuce and a number of other awesome, famous musicians, artists, and designers.
I am self taught and self proclaimed. I have no formal training in photography or art.
I'm a bit edgy, too, I guess, or so I hear. Edgy in the sense that I try to be different than what I am exposed to. I'm not afraid to push boundaries. And let's let it there. The imagination is so wonderful, right?
I use a Nikon D90, Nikon 50mm, Nikon 18-105mm, Nikon 70-200 VR-2, Nikon SB-600 Speedlight(s), occasionally a Gorillapod, Lightroom 3, and Photoshop CS4. I lug this gear around in my Lowepro Fastpack 250, which I love. And that's pretty much it. There's no need to overcomplicate things ... "Less is More." I'm not a gear head, so if you want to "talk shop," the conversation is probably going to be limited. :)
The hardest thing that I'm asked frequently to do, is to categorize my photography and art. It really varies, actually. Labeling. Ha. Someone once told me ... "It is what it is." I capture what I feel at the time of shooting the photos. I do what feels good. Yea, some of it tends to be on the dark side ... but there's actually a lot of light in it too, on the flip-side. Like I said before, it's a rollercoaster. I like and I'm am interested in what I take photos of, sometimes on a deeper level than what is considered normal. You are the best judge to categorize it, get creative. :)
When I shoot photos, I prefer to be goofy, amusing, and not overly serious ... this helps in keeping things natural and fun -- but I will be professional -- and I will show respect.
I primarily an "on location" photographer and use natural light and my occasional flash. I don't provide makeup, wardrobe, or props (I'll gladly help finding or giving idead, though), I'm very picky about the shoots that I am offered, and I'm usually willing to travel anywhere in the world to do a shoot.
I'm totally open to accept an equivalent trade or barter for my work, which I value very high. Please let me know if you're interested in trading, and please don't be offended if I don't accept your offer to trade. :) I've traded for dinners at restaurants, TF, gift cards, smoothies, rent, free drinks, VIP tables and access (at clubs, shows, concerts, bars, etc.), ... but mostly for things on my amazon wish list. I absolutely love the concept of trading.
I was born and raised on the east coast in a small town called Auburn, Pennsylvania by a wonderfully loving family that I can’t thank enough for everything they have done and continue to do for me. Thanks Mom, Dad, Trev, and everyone else. I wouldn't be where I'm at without you.
In school, I was focused on sports, driving around with nothing to do, being creative, and recording music in my parent’s basement with my brother. Sports was definitely a passion, and I was fortunate to have parents that cared and encouraged me to get involved in many different activities.
I played the saxophone in school, love it, was good at it. I promise I will pick it up again sometime in life. It's currently in the shop getting a tune-up. I'm about to start taking refresher lessons. I've also been playing the guitar for over 10 years and have been in a few bands in the past - some I continue to contribute to, specifically, World of Treez (my brothers creative project) -- Music is life and I'm playing it all the time. ;)
In college, I really enjoyed partying. When I look back at my college decisions, I can pretty much say that “I went to college for the wrong reasons.” However, it was one of the best things I did. I also played college basketball and was like 4th team all american or all team (or something like that ... or was that in high school? I don't remember...anyway). I studied Telecommunications, Audio/Visual, Computer Science, and Information Sciences and Technology. Psychology was also always very interesting to me ... I'd regularly skip my assigned courses to go and sit in on psychology classes. College taught me social interaction and social dynamics ... I learned about different cultures, travel, responsibility, etc. There was also a year in there somewhere when I learned how to do electrical work (though, don't ask me to do any for you, I'll probably end up burning your house down).
The absolute best things that came from playing sports were: 1) Competition 2) Learning to lose 3) Learning how to win 4) Learning how to work as a team 5) Dedication.
The best thing I learned about electrical work, is that I had to find some other things to do for work.
After my 7th year of college (Yea, I was pretty much a "lifer" at the time), I decided to throw my resume up on a job board and see what happens. I didn't really have any skills, so I did what many of us do to get a job ... "Fake it to make it." And wouldnt you know, I was hired by a high profile organization as a senior software analyst. Senior? This job much kicked me in the rear and got my mental gears going, it forced me to learn some skills ... which I picked up quickly. I was still going to college, managed to hold a full time job, and learned how to create useful software ... nice. As this job was winding to an end (it was a contract), I was told by my employer, "Tim, this software is going to save us millions." In an instant, a lightbulb turned on in my head. "If this is going to 'save' them millions, why can't I create something that will 'make me' millions?" Ha, easier said than done. Still working on that.
After about 8 years of classes and lectures, I left college to persue a dream, packed my stuff up, and drove 3000 miles to where I live today, in sunny San Diego, California (I've lived in Ocean beach, Pacific Beach, La Jolla, and Downtown) to be more specific).
I bounced around from tech startup company to tech startup company for 4 to 5 years. This period of time is what I call my "Harvard Education." Althought I didnt go to Harvard, and I'm sure I didnt get the education one would get from Harvard, but I did learn first hand what it takes to start, build, and operate a business. Eventually I landed into where I'm at now ...
For my day (and night and weekend) job, I run a rapidly growing technology company with offices in the United States and in India. We develop and sell an enterprise social networking & business collaboration platform. Here are some of the companies using our software.
Shortly after starting this business, I picked up the camera, started taking photos, and turning them into an artform.
What tech stuff do I know? Well, the best categorization for what I do is a Web Engineer and a Functional Designer. I do this kind of work primarily in an ASP.NET environment. For the past few years, I have specialized in social and community software. Some of my colleagues say that my User Experience, User Interface Design, HTML, and CSS skills are magical. (Thank you) I'm an ASP.NET Subject Matter Expert and was a Technical Editor for the book ASP.NET 3.5 Application Architecture and Design. I occasionally publish tech related articles on CodeAsp.Net. I've been using Adobe Photoshop for about 10 years, mostly editing photos, and designing things.
I’m a jack of all trades, master of none -- but could probably be master of anything. I am easily amused, easily focused, easily distracted, easily bored, and when I catch fire … look out. When I get involved with something I love, cool things usually happen … although I’ve also experienced my share of failures too … I think this helps me stay grounded (?).
Fear is like fire, it can burn your house down.
Today I woke up today and immediately smiled. I rolled out of bed and walked to the kitchen. I opened the fridge and pulled out the strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, kiwi, black berries, a banana, the peanut butter, REVV, HappyGirl, ZealO2, honey, cinnamon, and handful of ice. Then I forcefully packed the mixture into the blender -- and with a flick of a switch, I blended it all into a healthy morning breakfast. Yum. Morning smoothies. Want one? I guarantee it will be "the best" you will ever have.
When I grow up, I want to be an artist. Or maybe I already am one. Some of my friends say so anyway.
I’m mostly chill and easy to get along with. Usually smiling and happy. I don’t take myself too seriously, life is too short. I’m very spontaneous.
I like to make things happen, rather than just talking about them.
We’re all so predictable — so am I (zombie like).
I love traveling and I've started doing it more.
Here is something a good friend (plug) just sent over to me: (thank you)
“Tim Eisenhauer is an amazingly talented individual. When he decides to do something, watch out. There’s no stopping him. He tends to get extremely passionate about new projects and when that happens, amazing things are created. Even after knowing him as long as I have, and what to expect, I still get impressed by the things he does. He has an amazing eye with an appreciation for beauty and composition and an imagination that goes on endlessly.”
Books: any Psychology book (I wonder why), The 4 hour work week, the answer, the art of seduction, the 48 laws of power, emergency, NLP books, hypnosis, tech books, etc. Love to read, love to learn. I can plow through a book in a day or two.
Movies: natural born killers (Mickey and Malory), fight club, science fiction, any horror movie (but not so much lately), action, animation (not anime ... think A Bugs Life, Monsters Inc, Pixar type stuff), indie is cool, artsy flicks are cool, comedy makes me laugh, psychological, anything educational, etc. ... I watch movies on my Roku, there are a hand full of movies I put on to fall asleep to, and I don’t watch TV or the news.
Music: (no particular order) - AIR, Soulive, The Black Keys, Broken Bells, the new Tron soundtrack is pretty awesome (Daft Punk), The Crystal Method, my pandora station (4am music), trip-hop, downtempo, Fleet Foxes, Radiohead, Phish, Janes Addiction, Massive Attack, Tricky, NIN, Tool, Puscifer, Pink Floyd, Zeppelin, The White Stripes, The Dead Weather, World of Treez, The Devastators, acoustic guitar (watch this), space jam, funk, blues, jazz … love all kinds of music, go to lots of shows, take a lot of photos.
Food: Spice it up. Eat healthy. I'll try anything twice. Love to cook but don't do it much.
Artists: Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, MC Escher, Ansel Adams, Raja Sandhu (designed my logo), David LaChapelle, Frank Lloyd Wright, and the list could go on and on and on and on and on ... I love ambigrams, anagrams, impossible objects, word-play, etc ... once you understand reality and the laws, you can then try to break them.
Things that I spend time thinking about
How to maximize my quality time on earth, psychology, human behavior, social dynamics, women, body language, the universe, natural beauty, composition, hypnosis, magic, sarcasm, how to better myself, communication, aliens, warmth, and what I’m going to eat next.
As I write this, I’m sitting in my kitchen staring out the window at the ocean. Wow. There is just something about the power of the ocean that fascinates me. It fuels me, gets me going, and humbles me at the same time. As I look over to my right into my living room, I see a big red rug. I love the color red. Quite often you will see me in a red shirt — it’s just what I gravitate to -- and if I'm doing the photography thing, you'll probably see me in "the hat" -- its just so memorable.
I was born on April 6th, which makes me an aries?? I’m not really into the whole astrology stuff but most people describe me as being typical to my birthdate (whatever).
Ok, well, that looks like enough for now. Maybe I’ll write more later.
Thanks for reading.
Interested? Inspirired? Disgusted? Think I'm nuts? :)
Or maybe you want to learn more?
Let me know what you think. I love feedback. Contact me:
Email: talk@timeisenhauer.comWeb: http://www.timeisenhauer.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/timeisenhauerphoto