Ray Mortenson


Ray Mortenson is a New York-based landscape photographer who has documented the metropolitan corridor of the US' northeastern landscape since the 1970s. From 1979-84, he made black and white photographs of the industrial tidal marshes in the New Jersey Meadowlands and abandoned buildings in The Bronx. Mortenson's work has been widely exhibited since the 1980s and is held in the permanent collections of over forty institutions in the US, Canada, France and Japan.
In addition to his book Meadowland, published in 1983 by Lustrum Press, Mortenson has produced many one of a kind hand-bound books from his photographic prints.

Life and career

Ray Mortenson was born in Wilmington, DE. He attended Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh, PA and pursued sculpture at San Francisco Art Institute, CA. In 1968, Mortenson moved to New York City and he continues to live and work downtown.
In 1974, he began working in photography and is self-taught. He started to exhibit his work in the early 1980s and has since participated in exhibitions in Austria, Canada and throughout the United States. His work is held in more than forty institutional collections in the US, Canada, France and Japan.

Work

Ray Mortenson uses a wide variety of camera formats, photographic processes, and print sizes.
In the early 1980s, he made black and white photographs of the industrial tidal marshes in the New Jersey Meadowlands and abandoned buildings in The Bronx. Studying isolated areas bordering urban centers, he has documented particular features of locations in Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware.
A skilled darkroom printer, Mortenson produces photographs in sizes ranging from intimately scaled contact prints to 1:1 multi-paneled mural sized pieces. He prints both silver and platinum.
Mortenson's major projects include: Meadowland, South Bronx, Northeast Landscape, Conanicut, Rhode Island, Meadowland Journal, and New York City. Within each project are smaller categories.

Publications

Mortenson's work is held in the following permanent collections: