Mark Paulda Bio:

“It's like music without lyrics. There's a melody present and it makes you feel a certain way, but you don't know why. It's just sound waves. These are just light waves. This is just me showing you the world through my eyes.”

This is how Mark Paulda describes his photography, but such simple words belie the beauty and boldness of his creations. Upon retiring from a successful career in the special event industry, Mark turned to photography as a creative outlet. With noted London mentors Kobi Israel and Rupert Truman, he learned the rules and more importantly how to break them. “I'm aiming more toward just the visual: not telling a story, not describing a place, but just making a great photograph, whatever it takes,” he explains. “Whatever works is whatever works. It might be that nobody even knows what the image is, but the colors, shapes, forms and textures create a feeling in the viewer, though you don't know why.”

From "straight photography" to more creative and innovative work the camera is never far from Mark's side and he has learned to view the world around him in a new and unique way. There is a sense of rebirth in this photographer and a commitment to show the viewer surroundings they may not see on their own. Photography provides an opportunity to explore and be adventurous, outside and within, which is the true spirit of Mark Paulda. 

Nowhere is this objective more powerfully apparent than in Celebrating El Paso, Mark’s first published collection focusing on his border hometown. A consistent best seller throughout West Texas and the first book of its kind on El Paso, the book provides a gorgeous look at the unique geography and cityscapes of the world’s largest borderplex. In documenting the unique bi-cultural heritage that is El Paso, Paulda offers time-lapsed evocations of traffic at twilight to explorations of the majesty of the mountains ringing the city, celebrating the locale that occupies a unique vantage point on the border of two countries, three states, a military installation, and an Indian reservation.

“I found an El Paso I had never seen before,” he says. “I discovered the remarkable architecture, a mountain that has moods and changes from day to day, a landscape that is truly unique, sea of lights that go on forever as El Paso and Juárez become one, and so much more.” To capture all this, Mark and his camera spent two years scouring city streets, scaling rooftops, climbing mountains and soaring in the sky for aerial shots. “This city is in a time of renewal and self-discovery,” Mark continues. “One of my goals with this project has been to show our area in a positive light and let it shine.”

 
Recognition and awards came early in Mark Paulda's photography career and continue his way, including: finalist, 2008 & 2010 International Travel Photographer of the Year; semi-finalist, Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year; semi-finalist for landscape at the Venice International Photo Awards; and 3^rd prize, Prix de la Photographie Paris. His photographs have been exhibited at the Dallas Arboretum, the 2008 International Exhibition of Fine Art Photography at the Center for Fine Art Photography (Fort Collins, Colorado); the Georgetown Art Hop (Georgetown, Texas), and many other venues.

Mark’s work has been used in magazines across the globe and can also be found in David Tucker’s London Stories as well as Reflections of Lake Lenore by Karen Griffiths (which also features Mark’s work on its cover). 

A member of London Photographic Association, Texas Photographic Society and Center for Fine Art Photography, Mark is the sole photographer represented by Hal Marcus Gallery (800 North Mesa Street, El Paso, Texas 79902, 915-533-9090) as well as the Galaria Gallery in the heart of the San Francisco Art District. He is also a contributor to the prestigious Getty Images Collection. Mark’s photographs are available through markpaulda.com and the Hal Marcus Gallery. He is currently at work on two new projects: Texas State of Mind and London in Motion. Follow him on www.flickr.com/mpaulda and www.twitter.com/mpaulda.

“Life is very much like this for myself, simple and real, and this is what I prefer my photographic portfolio to reflect.”

Wandering Wayfarer