Meet Ted Rigoni | Sports and fine art photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ted Rigoni and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ted, we’d love to hear what makes you happy.
This is one of those questions introspective people must ask themselves from time to time to keep their sanity, and in an increasingly chaotic world, to keep moving forward. After nearly four decades in a technical field of stress-filled 60-hour work weeks the left side of my brain needed a bit of a break, and the right side finally took over. Recognizing this and allowing myself the grace to make the change from engineering to full time photography (sports and fine art landscape genres) was a major change in my life and something that offered me an opportunity to exert a semblance of control over what I do with my remaining time. And it’s not just time, but quality time, the time to travel wherever I choose to go, to experiment with my photographic art, and for the most part, be responsible just for myself, not a large organization of diverging priorities and ever-changing deadlines. The peace of deciding, or not, to be in the field for early morning light over a fog-shrouded Redwood grove, the crashing of the waves over slick rocks at high tide, or a 40 mile an hour windstorm rearranging the surfaces of high desert dunes, these are the things that recharge my soul and fill my heart with joy. Experiencing such diverse environmental conditions drives my passion even more and gives me the inner peace to know that the freedom I now have after all those years climbing the corporate ladder were in fact, worth it.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Creating interpretive and impressionistic images of our shared American landscapes drives my work and fuels my creative journey. My images explore the crenelated trunks of tightly packed Aspen, rarefied golden dust and slanted moonlight found with the dunes of the Mojave Desert, the slowly rising steam and heat emanating from geologic-driven processes, fog-shrouded mysteries hidden deep within moody rain forests, and the abandoned and neglected ruins of our forgotten works, recognizing that nature and our own imaginations tell stories of what once was and may still be.

My metaphorical journey within our changing environment has matured through extensive photographic travels. Influences here have clarified my aesthetic for images that venture beyond sheer documentation of man, nature, and things, to images that consciously originate in my mind as representing the emotive songs of an Americana Earthscape narrative.

I consider myself first and foremost an artist, using digital photography as the basis of my medium. Though my images are not specifically documentary records of what I see, through the use of time and atmospherics, I strive to convey the emotions I feel when I capture each image. All of my work is based on actual events or locales, although through subtle post processing, I apply a limited artistic focus and adjustment to the work to more closely align with and convey the emotions I felt at the time I collect each image.

The hardest lesson I’ve learned is that no matter how hard I try I will make mistakes, and while seemingly devastating at the time, these lessons ultimately have helped to make me a better artist as well as human. And, to not ever stop trying, seeking, learning and exploring, as that is the best way to satisfy the human condition.

If you like hanging around lonely, abandoned and forgotten places in the western US, whether dark and dangerous trash-strewn city alleys in the Pacific northwest or out of the way places in the high deserts, we might just cross paths, and wouldn’t that be a hoot.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If a photo-friendly friend from out of the area came to visit for the week, I’d first take them to Newport Beach for a brief taste of the golden coast’s nightlife–beaches, bikinis and beautiful evening imaging. We’d then head out to the Mojave Desert and the Kelso Dunes, where we’d experience the golden rays of a sunrise shoot over the dunes, then visit one of the many abandoned mines in the area for an afternoon’s exploration. We’d then motor up to northern California and Lassen Volcanic National Park, traversing partway along Highway 395, and hit one of my favorite geothermal areas, Bumpass Hell, for literally out of this world imaging opportunities. We’d close out the trip with a short jaunt over to the coast and the Redwoods around Crescent City, hoping to image the majestic trees amidst a gentle fog and sunbeams filtering through the forest. I’d then drop off my friend at the local airport to allow them to jet back to their place of origin, fully photographically satiated. That, my friends, would be an ideal seven days of photographic fun.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
In 2017, I met Bob Killen, MFA, Curriculum Director for National Park Photography Expeditions and Senior Instructor for the NPPE Art Photography Program, coming at a time when I was ripe for a major change in how I viewed the world as an artist and my place within it. Over the next several years, under his tutelage, I went from student to field photography assistant, helping to lead photography Master Classes in National Parks throughout the American west. Bob significantly altered my view of my art and literally opened up new landscape worlds within which to indulge in my practice of art. In 2023, through the Kipaipai Workshop in San Luis Obispo, California, I met Linda Vallejo, an American artist known for painting, sculpture and ceramics. Her work often addresses her Mexican-American ethnic identity within the context of American art and popular culture. Her mentoring has polished my art practice, and she helped move my Emotive Dominion project from a disorganized collection of images to a solo show in a small museum. Her tutelage in social media and advertisement, and her contacts in the art world, have been invaluable for me. Both Bob and Linda have assumed active and prominent roles as mentors in my artistic and personal life, and it is safe to say I wouldn’t be anywhere near where I am today without their positive support and critical guidance.

Website: https://tedrigoniarts.com

Instagram: @tedrigoni_photography

Linkedin: Ted Rigoni

Facebook: Ted Rigoni; Ted Rigoni Arts

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP-X6NjG37w&t=7s

Image Credits
All images were generated by and are the sole intellectual copyrighted property of Ted Rigoni