About the Artist

Also known online as "RW Photo Art," Roy Whiddon is an award-winning Canadian artist/photographer specializing in fine art nudes.

Born in the U.S., and working for a high-tech company in California, Roy came to Canada in 1974 for a job which required travel across Canada from Newfoundland to British Columbia. He bought a 35 mm SLR camera to record the scenery and soon became an avid amateur photographer, taking courses at a local college and setting up a home darkroom. Years later, Roy also took up drawing and painting to balance his technical career, acquiring his Visual Arts Certificate from Algonquin College in the late 1980's. One of his favourite artistic endeavours has always been life drawing, which he continues to practice regularly.

In 2008, Roy decided to try photographing the nude figure as well as drawing it. The feedback he received from those photographs encouraged him to make this his primary focus in the visual arts. In his photography, Roy strives to portray the beauty, grace, strength and vulnerability of the human body. Some of the photographs focus on form, using dramatic lighting and chiaroscuro, while others explore movement and transition through the use of multiple exposures and motion blur. Some photographs suggest a story or portray an emotion. While much of Roy's art is created in the studio, he also photographs the figure in settings ranging from nature to funky shops to abandoned factories, integrating the human form with a contrasting environment. His figures are usually nude, but may occasionally be draped, typically with pieces of fabric rather than clothing. Roy finds that figure photography offers a unique mix of artistic, technical and interpersonal challenges to spark his creativity.

Photographs for exhibition are printed on archival fine art paper or canvas using pigment-based inks, and are framed with acid-free materials for maximum quality and longevity. Prints are normally issued as variable editions and limited to either five or ten prints, optionally with up to two additional artist's proofs (usually 8.5" x 11") intended for the artist's and model's personal portfolios. Being variable editions, successive prints of an image are not necessarily identical, and may vary in size or media (type or paper or canvas), or may have minor revisions to colour, retouching, etc. However, each print is given a unique number within the overall edition and the total number of prints will not be exceeded, even if prints are produced in different sizes.

You can also find Roy on the following sites:

     Model Society
     Model Mayhem
     Facebook

View or download Roy's CV here.