.Biography.
I grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I come from a largely Irish and Italian Catholic heritage and have strong ties to family and faith. I was taught at a very young age that I need to strive for survival, that nothing in life is free. Both of my grandfathers served in the military and were better men for it; they were strong willed and strong hearted. My grandmothers were very strong women and taught me self-sufficiency through gardening and cooking.
My parents, as well as nearly all of my family, had ceased education during, or slightly thereafter, high school. I am the first, and only, college educated youth in my family. I have learned from books, from life experience, from street life and lots of listening. From both of my grandfathers’ tough childhoods in Chicago, to my suburban sprawl of a youth, I have become a better man for it.
With a strong heritage in Catholicism and Italian culture, I am greatly interested in art and in history. From the Roman Empire to the Italian American mafia in Chicago, I love to read and research history and events. This romance with my cultural heritage inspires many of my works to fit into era specific settings.
Because of growing up in a large family, I had the unfortunate experience of going to many funerals and losing many loved ones. Through the years I have been able to change such a dark and macabre existence into expression through art.
I grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I come from a largely Irish and Italian Catholic heritage and have strong ties to family and faith. I was taught at a very young age that I need to strive for survival, that nothing in life is free. Both of my grandfathers served in the military and were better men for it; they were strong willed and strong hearted. My grandmothers were very strong women and taught me self-sufficiency through gardening and cooking.
My parents, as well as nearly all of my family, had ceased education during, or slightly thereafter, high school. I am the first, and only, college educated youth in my family. I have learned from books, from life experience, from street life and lots of listening. From both of my grandfathers’ tough childhoods in Chicago, to my suburban sprawl of a youth, I have become a better man for it.
With a strong heritage in Catholicism and Italian culture, I am greatly interested in art and in history. From the Roman Empire to the Italian American mafia in Chicago, I love to read and research history and events. This romance with my cultural heritage inspires many of my works to fit into era specific settings.
Because of growing up in a large family, I had the unfortunate experience of going to many funerals and losing many loved ones. Through the years I have been able to change such a dark and macabre existence into expression through art.
.Artist Philosophy.
Photography is becoming less of an art form because of digital cameras and the cost and availability of cameras and equipment. Every print that I sell is signed and numbered consecutively and retired at twenty-five prints. I believe that this gives sufficient opportunity to own my works, and still keeps photographic art as a rare form. I do not, and will never, sell prints that are not signed or numbered once a print is retired.
Photography is becoming less of an art form because of digital cameras and the cost and availability of cameras and equipment. Every print that I sell is signed and numbered consecutively and retired at twenty-five prints. I believe that this gives sufficient opportunity to own my works, and still keeps photographic art as a rare form. I do not, and will never, sell prints that are not signed or numbered once a print is retired.
Josh Downey | P.O. Box 391 | McHenry, IL 60050
All images copyright 2008-2011. I reserve the right to refuse sale to any person, for any reason, at any time.
All images copyright 2008-2011. I reserve the right to refuse sale to any person, for any reason, at any time.
