Della Calfee: this artist is green

July 9, 9:57 AMSan Jose Contemporary Art ExaminerErica Goss

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D. Calfee: Evoke Water series

Della Calfee, a fine art and commercial photographer, is passionate about the environment.  She is devoted to both her art and to her surroundings; recently, her business, Evoke Imagery, was certified a Bay Area Green Business.  She shoots nature, people, products and events, with a style that is simple, graphic and intentional.

Though Della’s tool of choice is the camera, her earliest memories of creating art include paint.  Her parents encouraged her talents, showing her museums, driving her to classes, and taking her on scenic trips.  Coffee table books of the classic artists were frequent gifts.  “I had a charmed life as an artist,” she says, “yet I took it for granted.  I was in junior high before I gradually figured out not everyone is an artist or designer.”  Her purchase of a historic home in downtown San Jose, and the project of landscaping the yard, inspired her to photograph the flowers that thrive in her garden.  “I got lost in the garden and never came back.  My flower pictures are vivid and graphic. I had to see if I could capture the extraordinary experience of their restorative, loving and all-consuming pull. After I found some success I turned my camera on the rest of the world, where I found a different experience. The results vary, unlike my flower pictures.  They are often faded, gritty, and painterly.  It’s not uncommon for people to assume my photos are paintings.”   Artistic influences include humanitarian photographer Sabastiao Salgado, art/fashion provocateur David LaChappelle, and the California landscapes of Ansel Adams.

Before launching Evoke Imagery, Della worked in global marketing and branding.  In college, she studied American history and critical thinking.  While at art school, Della’s interests ranged from stone carving to glass blowing, settling eventually on photography.  Now that she’s running her own company, she shoots events, portraits, and takes on editorial projects, advertising and stock photography.  In February, Art Object, a local gallery, invited her to show her fine art photography for the first time.  Della is also a member of the artists group Silicon Valley Artists Collaborative.

Della invites others who share her vision of a green future to contact her at evokeimagery.com.  She’s encouraged that the rest of the country is beginning to agree with her about the importance of the environment.  Della’s advice to other artists is, most importantly, to look at the opportunities you have right now.  Be open to trying new things, and don’t spend money unless you really know it will make a difference to your career (wise words in these uncertain economic times).  Make friends, learn, and allow yourself to be an obsessed artist as long as you’re not hurting your loved ones. 

Personal freedom, healthy balance, and time for creativity inform photographer Della Calfee’s artistic practice.  As she journeys with her camera, she brings back pictures that combine images of the environment with human beings to make a strong statement about the fragility of nature.