131 W. Court St.
P.O. Box 475
Richland Center
WI
53581
608-649-1700
Biography of:
Dr. Jim Clausius
Dr. Jim Clausius first
became interested in photography when he was a freshman in high school. He
attributes his interest in photography to a good science teacher who started
an after school photo club. Clausius joined and discovered he needed a
better camera to meet his expectations. After begging his father for a new
camera he received an Argus C3 for Christmas, a popular camera in the
forties which made slides or transparencies. His teacher made him his
assistant for taking pictures of school activities so he had the use of
school equipment when he needed it.
There was a six year void in photography while he went to dental school in Milwaukee and found there wasn’t much time for extracurricular activities. After starting his career in dentistry in 1949 Clausius drifted away from photography developing his new practice, getting married and then spending two years in the army. He settled in Richland Center in 1953 and was able to resume his favorite hobby of taking slides of his family and children.
His father-in-law, who was also an amateur photographer, built a darkroom for him in the basement. He bought an enlarger, trays and took 35mm black & white negatives with the Argus C3. That phase passed when 35mm color changed to color negatives. Then he could have positive prints made and actually see the pictures in hand, quite an improvement.
Back in the 80s Clausius invested in a more sophisticated camera, a single-lens-reflex. He acquired extra lenses for it, making it a very versatile camera. Clausius states “This was, and still is, my best and most used camera, bar none. This was when I started to pay attention to artistic composition, and deliberately went out of my way to find interesting subjects.”
About 10 years ago Clausius started giving an occasional picture as gifts and entering pictures in juried art shows. In 1989 he was contacted by a phone book company that wanted a picture of his on their cover. It was a picture of the footbridge with the fall foliage on the west hillside. It was so well received he was asked to provide another one for the 1990 book. This one was a winter scene of the mill pond dam which no longer exists. It was suggested to him that he should frame his enlargements for sale. He decided to keep track of his expenses and found they were larger than he had realized so needed to price his pictures accordingly. He has been selling through the Red Door Gallery for the past three years.
131 W. Court St. · P.O. Box 475 · Richland Center, WI 53581
608-604-2838
©2005 - Red Door Gallery - all rights reserved.