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Mark Estes
Oakland, California
1979 KCAI Graduate
http://www.estesphoto.com
mark@estesphoto.com

 

Photographer Mark Estes approaches the creation of his character-study portraiture, concept illustration and bike racing imagery with the same “Beginners Mind” that he applies to his hospice volunteer work, bicycle racing and marriage to his wife, Susan. The Christmas gift of a plastic Thunderbird camera from his parents at age seven led him to study art at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in his hometown of Houston, TX. And later earn a B.F.A. in photography at the Kansas City Art Institute. His creative inspiration comes from his love of illustration, music, film, Bizarro comics puns and photographers Duane Michaels, Annie Leibovitz anf Matt Mahurin.


Since graduating from K.C.A.I. in 1979, Mark moved to northern California where he has worked as a freelance assistant to the county’s best photographers, established his studio in Oakland, CA., gotten married, been trained as a whitewater river raft guide, become a trained hospice volunteer and participated in three 600-mile AIDS LifeCycle bike rides while raising $30,000.00 for the S.F. AIDS Foundation.


Mark discovered bike racing at the age of 47. He is an active Masters category F racer in Northern California. Cycling photography and illustration are a blend of two of his passions. Racing is also a part of his business plan. The application of life lessons learned while training and racing make him a better photographer and artist as a result.


His clients include Newsweek, Business Week, Fortune Small Business, University of California at San Francisco Medical Center, Robert Mondavi Winery, California Lawyer Magazine and Stanford University.

 

Prints shown:
Untitled 1
Untitled 2
Untitled 3
Untitled 4

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