About Steve

You can reach Steve at (240) 793-6193 or whysall@whysallphotography.com

Steve Whysall grew up in Norwich England. He was a chef for 15 years. He worked at exclusive restaurants throughout Europe and America, cooking for the White House and the royalty in England. A work injury caused Steve to think about his career choice as a chef. While visiting his family in England, Steve took a picture near his home town of Norwich, in the Norfolk Broads. He excitedly developed this picture, a black and white photograph with mist rising over the water, and light shining onto the landscape. It was his first piece of creative art.

Steve applied for, and received a scholarship to the Corcoran Gallery of Art for photography. While studying at the Corcoran, he did a research paper on P.H. Emerson, and discovered that Emerson too was from Norwich. And, Emerson also photographed the Norfolk Broads. When he flipped the page over in his research book, he saw Emerson had taken nearly the same photograph 100 years before, and Steve thought about how little his home town had changed. The angle of Emerson’s shot was just slightly different, but he was amazed at the likeness of the two pictures.

The Emerson picture energized Steve, as it revealed his innate gift in photography which was nurtured and grown into an award winning photographer whose work was displayed at The Corcoran. While his classmates were off shooting nudes for their final thesis, Steve went to his dean and requested permission to join the Montgomery County Fire Department for his final project. He wanted to photograph the men at work. This was a two year project, as it took nearly a year for the firemen to warm up to Steve. He would sit at the fire station for hours awkwardly trying to fit in. As time went by he eventually won them over and began to run calls with them. Later, the fire chief would scream at his men to get that crazy photographer out of here, as Steve would shoot pictures with no gear and his camera practically melting in his hands.

Steve’s final thesis at the Corcoran was a slideshow of two years of firefighters around Montgomery County serving and protecting the people. He didn’t expect it, but local news stations and reporters from the area, including Channle 9 and The Washington Post, came to see his final work. Steve’s passion for photography utilizing light, angles, and the proper medium, is as pronounced now as it was when Steve entered the Corcoran. Whether Steve is photographing the President of the United States, or a local mother and child, he uses his passion for photography, his later realized innate gift, and his travel assignments with local famed photographer, Richard Norwitz, a National Geographic photographer, to capture the essence of great photography.

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