Bill Peters
Known for: Archival digital prints on rag paper
“I express the abstract beauty of the South San Francisco Bay wetlands, a landscape as visually striking as that of any national park.”
Exclusionary Landscape #3 - Salt Ponds (South East, San Francisco Bay), ed. 3/6, archival pigment print on rag paper, uv coating, mounted on aluminum, 76 x 38 inches (193 x 96.5 cm), framed, $3950 Cdn.
Angular Salt Ponds #2 (South East, San Francisco Bay), edition 12, archival pigment print on rag paper, uv coating, mounted on aluminum, 27 x 40 inches (68.5 x 101.5 cm), framed, $2250 Cdn.
Red And Brown Channels (South East, San Francisco Bay), archival pigment print on rag paper, uv coating, mounted on aluminum, edition 12, 30 x 40 inches (76 x 101.5 cm), framed, $2250 Cdn.
Angular Salt Ponds #1 (South East, San Francisco Bay), edition 4/12, archival pigment print on rag paper, uv coating, mounted on aluminum, 27 x 40 inches (68.5 x 101.5 cm), framed, $2250 Cdn.
Salt Pond Excavation Pattern #1 (South East, San Francisco Bay), ed. 1/12, archival pigment print on rag paper, uv coating, mounted on aluminum, edition 12, 30 x 40 inches (76 x 101.5 cm), framed, $2250 Cdn.
Wetland Pattern (South East, San Francisco Bay), archival pigment print on rag paper, uv coating, mounted on aluminum, edition 12, 27 x 40 inches (68.5 x 101.5 cm), framed, $2250 Cdn.
Partially Submerged Landscape (South East, San Francisco Bay), archival pigment print on rag paper, uv coating, mounted on aluminum, edition 12, 27 x 40 inches (68.5 x 101.5 cm), framed, $2250 Cdn.
Submerged Landscape #3 (South East, San Francisco Bay), archival pigment print on rag paper, uv coating, mounted on aluminum, edition 12, 30 x 40 inches (76 x 101.5 cm), framed, $2250 Cdn.
Salt Ponds With Red Bloom (South East, San Francisco Bay), archival pigment print on rag paper, uv coating, mounted on aluminum, edition 12, 30 x 40 inches (76 x 101.5 cm), framed, $2250 Cdn (ask about availability).
Yellow Pond, Salt Berms (South East, San Francisco Bay), archival pigment print on rag paper, uv coating, mounted on aluminum, edition 12, 30 x 40 inches (76 x 101.5 cm), framed, $2250 Cdn (ask about availability).
Yellow Salt Slough, Boat (South East, San Francisco Bay), archival pigment print on rag paper, uv coating, mounted on aluminum, edition 12, 27 x 40 inches (68.5 x 101.5 cm), framed, $2250 Cdn (ask about availability).
Yellow And Red Salt Ponds (South East, San Francisco Bay), archival pigment print on rag paper, uv coating, mounted on aluminum, edition 12, 50 x 40 inches (127 x 101.5 cm), framed, $2850 Cdn. (ask about availability)
These images were made during a series of helicopter flights over the salt ponds and wetlands at the south end of San Francisco Bay spanning the decade from 2009 to 2019.
The digital approach suited Bill Peters’ aerial views of San Francisco Bay salt ponds, sloughs, and wetlands in the period 2009-2019. Rapid, intuitive selections of colour and composition, while in the air, are the basis for detailed choices and manipulations in studio. The resulting photographs contain bold colour and abstracted form with unanticipated details.
Bill's images invite us to deeply engage with our surroundings and simply observe. He encourages viewers to share in the profound emotional connection he feels for each scene, fostering greater awareness of the visual landscapes we encounter daily. His work challenges us to recognize our roles, whether small or significant, as co-creators of the spaces we inhabit and traverse.
It was in herring cans used as developing trays, on the floor of his childhood bedroom in Calgary, that Bill Peters first saw an image emerging under the glow of a dim red light and was forever captured by the magic of photography. While doing a degree in Astronomy, he studied photography and film making at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. A career in museums, planetariums and science centres followed, and lead Peters to live in a number of cities and experience many around the world. He grew to appreciate cities as great, human collaborative creations and explore their visual dimensions
Frustrated in portraying his vision of cities and landscapes on film, in 2006 Peters borrowed one of the first high resolution digital SLR cameras and a day later was watching images of revolutionary scale and visual dynamics scrolling out of one of the first professional, archival, inkjet printers.