Stephen Webber

Artwork by Stephen Webber

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Artist Statement

As a photographer, I spend my time seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary details of life. By layering and manipulating images taken with my digital camera, coloring them vibrantly, and displaying them in various shapes, it is my hope that viewers can take away new, surreal experiences.

The images themselves – human portraits, rustic Western scenes, cityscapes, and landscapes – are those of the everyday. But the mixture of bright colors and textures layered upon these photographs break up the shapes. Even though it remains a digital image, viewers may feel they are experiencing an oil painting or a watercolor not a traditional photograph.

I receive great pleasure in the process of creating art that others can relate to in some way, whether associating an image with a memory or an emotion. Art is personal to me. I don’t want to tell people to feel any certain way when they see my work. I want somebody to look at it and make their own interpretations, catch their interest and lose themselves in it for a while.

Artist Biography

Using a digital camera and Adobe Photoshop on a Mac computer, Stephen Webber layers images, starting with blacks and whites as his foundation and then building with vibrant, sometimes unusual, colors. His canvas is not limited to portraits or landscapes alone; he enjoys working with all images whether it is an urban street scene or a couple’s loving gaze.

“I don’t go into a picture with a preconceived idea; it grows as I go into working on it,” Webber said.

He knows much about his art and the styles and influences he merges – he has been taking pictures and studying the masters for more than 40 years. Born in San Diego, California, in 1951, Webber remembers enjoying working with a camera when he was young – a passion that would continue through college and his adult life. He graduated from Montana State University in 1987 and moved to Mustang, Oklahoma, with his wife, Desiree. His primary career pursuit until now has been in television production.

Webber’s work is currently on display at the Contemporary Art Gallery in the Paseo Arts District in Oklahoma City, and Simply Oklahoma in Guthrie. Webber’s art is unique – no other artist is currently manipulating digital images in the same way that he is able to. Even though each work remains a digital image, viewers may feel they are experiencing an oil painting or a watercolor not a traditional photograph.

“Art is personal to me,” he said. “I don’t want to tell people to feel any certain way when they see my work. I want somebody to look at it and make their own interpretations, catch their interest and lose themselves in it for a while.”

His smallest framed works measure 5 inches by 7 inches, but Webber is also known for large, panoramic works such as “Shawnee Trail,” which is 6 feet by 1 ½ feet. That work merges 15 to 20 photographs and captures the rugged cowboy herding cattle in southeastern Oklahoma. Its turquoise-blue sky and bright white clouds add contrast to the recognizable landscape. “Buffalo Soldiers,” which is 24 inches by 36 inches, features the historic scene of a buffalo soldier on horseback vividly brought to life with reds, pinks, and yellows – adding another dimension to the century-old story. Meanwhile, “Gotham OKC” and “Devon Tower” showcase an urban perspective as well as the intricacies and distinct lines of architectural design.

“Sometimes a work is not done for a long time, because I feel something is missing – there’s not enough there yet. Sometimes I’ll work on a piece for weeks at a time. You’ve got to find elements and meld them into the composition, make them believable. They can’t just be thrown together,” he said.

Webber’s works range in price from $200 to more than $1,000. He is also open to accepting commissioned work for patrons who would like for him to work with specific photographs.