Glen McClure Bio by The Virginia Museum

From a very early age, Glen McClure knew that he wanted to become an artist. He also knew that his medium would be photography. When he was in his early 20s, he made a bold move, hoping to break into that world. He wrote a letter to every photographer and photography studio in the Yellow Pages saying, "I don't know a thing, but I want to learn to be a photographer. I'm willing to do anything, including sweeping the floor."
The Studio Center in Norfolk took McClure up on his offer, giving him the position of photographer's assistant. He picked up and delivered film, helped out in the darkroom, and, of course, swept the floors! McClure says that being around the studio – surrounded by the lights, tripods, and the odors of photographic chemicals – was all the encouragement that he needed. He absorbed everything, from photographic techniques to darkroom manipulation. Most important, he saw the work of a broad range of artists and was caught up in the magic and potential of film.
When he was hired by the firm of Arthur Polizos Associates to start its in-house photography department, McClure was on his way. The job gave him the training ground that he so desired.

McClure cites two photographers as the primary influences on his work: Czechoslovakian artist Josef Sudek and the well-known American photographer Paul Strand. From Sudek he learned that the mundane and ordinary object is as valuable as the exotic; from Strand he learned to respect and use timeless and traditional techniques. McClure is not seduced by technical fads or new inventions. "My best work," he says, "appears as if I weren't even there."

For years, he has concentrated on the landscape, producing series of panoramic works taken in Ireland and Tuscany and Umbria. Through his lens, each of his subjects reveals both the universal and the individual.

Glen McClure has been featured in numerous national group and one-man shows. In 1996 and again in 2000 he was included in the prestigious "Photography Annual" show, sponsored by Communication Arts magazine.