ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES - RICHARD KAYLIN

Richard Kaylin was originally educated in aeronautical engineering, industrial design and graphic design. In 1977, he moved from his native New York to Denver, where he got a job in multi-media presentation. This work required a number of images, and Kaylin soon found himself acquiring new skills in photography. Being so close to the Utah desert, he started venturing out to capture the frequent lightning storms in the area.

In 1984, Kaylin moved to San Francisco and since then photography has played a much bigger role in his life. He often travels to the Southwest deserts or Florida in search of lightning, staying in these areas weeks at a time, literally chasing storm clouds from one plateau or bayou to another. As he explains, “I love taking pictures. I love being outside in nature. Experiencing storms is just incredible. It’s just a metaphor for so many other things that go on in life. It’s extraordinarily beautiful, a little bit dangerous. It’s rare, and it makes me feel alive like few other things in the world do.”

Kaylin has sold his work to stock photo libraries, which has resulted in the incorporation of his lightning shots in ads for spark plugs, airlines and the U.S. Marines, as well as in a textbook about weather. He’s also been published in "Communication Arts" magazine, and he won the 70th annual competition of the New York Art Director’s Club.