By Rebecca Pikus
Photography Art is now a widely accepted art form. What is rare, however, are photographers, working outside the confines of a studio, who are also World Explorers! Steve Bein is such a person. Dashing, avant-garde, & adventurous, he reminds one of Indiana Jones upon first meeting him!
Steve Bein was born in a small private hospital on Melrose near La Brea in Los Angeles, about 1/2 block from the famous PINKS Hot Dog Stand. After being automated out of a job of setting pins in a bowling alley as a teenager, he has worked as a painter & potter, represented by several West Los Angeles galleries. He worked on a freighter from L.A. to Haifa Israel where he worked on a Kibbutz for 3 months while touring Israel. At that time, he changed from his college major of Engineering to Dentistry, chosing to make small bridges instead of large ones. He taught at USC school of Dentistry as a clinical Instructor for several years, was the President of the California Association for Preventive Dentistry & President of the historic Adventurers Club of Los Angeles among other positions.
Bein has been involved in travel and photography. He sailed in the western Caribbean for a year on his own sailboat, has flown hang gliders, para gliders and single engine aircraft, been a licensed Coast Guard captain, 100 ton with sail endorsement. His current interests are photographing the beautiful areas of the Colorado Plateau formations — both the rarely seen and the popular areas. His unique techniques make the familiar into rare visions.
Dr. Bein has been involved in the arts for over 50 years. He has made creations as a potter, jeweler, gem cutter, painter and now prefers photography and his unique interpretation of landscapes and travel. He is an award winning member of the North American Nature Photographers Association. His works have been featured in the award winning African Wildlife Foundation reports, published in Panoramic Photography, Popular Photography, and many other publications while represented by the Corbis Agency. Currently his images are shown at the “Off The Wall Gallery” in Rawlins, Wyoming. And now, through the encouragement of artist Joe Novak, Guest Curator for “Visually Speaking – Color & Light” he has been invited to exhibit in Rebecca Fine Art Gallery.
He has travelled to the Middle East, Africa, South America, North America, Asia and Europe. Dr Bein is also the past president of the Adventurers Club of Los Angeles, an historic club tracing its roots to President Teddy Roosevelt and a meeting of friends in 1908.
His talents in landscapes are directed to creating unique images of familiar and not familiar places using his technique of combining black and white with color images. His limited editions printed on metal at large sizes give the feeling of looking into the image rather than at it. Recently his images from a 6 day horseback expedition to the Inca Center, Choquequerao, were included in the historic book by archeologist Gary Ziegler which was constructed by the Inca Ruler Topa Inca, who was the next Inca ruler after Pachacuti who constructed Machu Pichu as his estate. He was also the photographer for a private archaeology project on the Maya in Central America. In the film days, he made photographic images in cameras from 1/2 frame 35mm to 8×10 view cameras. Currently he is creating his images using professional digital cameras. Steve Bein has recently relocated from Beverly Hills, Ca to Rancho Mirage, Ca
Artists Reception – STEVE BEIN – SAT. OCT. 22, 5-8PM. REBECCA FINE ART GALLERY, 68895 Perez Rd, #7, Cathedral City, Ca (760) 534-5888 Fineartvortex.com – Open Bar, Music, Great Art!
