Lyon Omohundro is a lifelong photographer originally from North Carolina, and now living in the San Francisco Bay area for the last twenty-five years. He studied fine art and photography at the North Carolina School of the Arts (now UNCSA), and was fortunate to have Michael Avedon as his photography teacher. Avedon's iconic portraits influenced Lyon's portraiture work, where he seeks to bring out a story about the person through the photograph. A few years later, he went on to study arts administration at Salem College in Winston-Salem, NC. Since it's a women's college, he was in the continuing education program three to four nights a week, where he made the dean's list throughout his enrollment. This was while working full-time as the gallery director for Piedmont Craftsmen for five years, a regional fine craft organization representing more than 400 artists from throughout the southeastern Untied States.
Lyon grew up in a small town in North Carolina, where being outdoors was nearly automatic. Playing in the creek behind his house with his younger brother and friends from the neighborhood was a daily adventure. His father and a good friend restored a wooden 1938 Lightning class sailboat when he was growing up. Vivid memories of polishing the original bronze hardware and the beauty of the boat under sail are impactful images to Lyon. These activities grew into a love of backpacking and sailing, which led him to admire the landscape photos of Ansel Adams and Galen Rowell, as well as the sailing photos of Sharon Green. Rowell's involvement with his surroundings, and being a part of it, are similar elements of Lyon's images. Likewise, Rowell's vivid colors in his atmospheric landscapes captivated the artist. Additionally, the fascinating wildlife encountered hiking or sailing are rich subjects for Lyon to photograph. He seeks to express the ever changing beauty and fragility of nature.
Eleven years ago, an amazing twenty-eight day voyage across the Pacific Ocean was life altering for him in many ways. He sailed with two others on a 44 foot sailboat from Punta de Mita, Mexico to Hiva Oa, French Polynesia. Sadly, most of the photographs were lost when he was mugged in Papeete, Tahiti toward the end of this adventure. Fortunately he was not terribly injured and made it back to Moorea, an island where he was staying, the next day. Rather than daunt him, it inspired him to travel more and capture the beauty in other places. Currently he lives on a sailboat and enjoys the maritime life, almost like a permanent vacation.
Travel in recent years has been a wonderful experience and fantastic source of images. Fortunately this was achieved through years of hard work booking music and occasionally tending bar at a historical locals and tourist tavern in Sausalito, CA. With the disruptions to life and businesses around the world from the COVID-19 pandemic, he was able to return to his lifelong passion for photography, art, and nature. The vivid dawns and sunsets in remote places, the whipping wind and power of the sea, and colorful and exotic wildlife all resonate with the artist. Hopefully similar feelings are conveyed to you, please enjoy!
Portrait of the Photographer, © Georgianna Stout 2019
