I often receive compliments for the photography on my blog. Now I’d like to introduce you to the photographer, Steve Werney, whose photos decorate not only my blog, but also the walls in my apartment.

He is a California native, and a contractor by trade. His specialty is recasting functionality and architectural nuance.  His company transformed a meatpacking and smokehouse facility into a restaurant, a fast food restaurant into a cooking school, and an old firehouse into a slick, contemporary living space.

But his other passion is photography, and the visual arts, and like any artist you find out a good deal about him through his work.

He’s always searching for unusual places: the empty factory, the abandoned bunker, the shipyard on a day with few ships.  He gravitates to situations that involve risk or demand some counterintuitive appreciation.  He has no hesitation in jumping over fences or climbing up crumbling battlements.  Nor any hesitation in getting his subject to be provocative.  There’s always an edge in his view of the world.

And, of course, his work is distinguished by its beauty — whether looking at a person, a building, or a car. He has a special eye for cars, for the particular angle that suggests speed or the signature of an unusual design.

I should add that he brings a special feeling to his subjects, whether in a photo or in one of his buildings.  And such is his genius: he has a way of being with people that encourages trust and the knowledge that whatever he’s creating will be the best he can possibly make it.

His photography compliments my blog so well. His passion to articulate light matches my own desire to find the words.