Page 141 - Demo

139John BowerI%u2019ve always felt that knowing something about an artist will lead to a better understanding of his work. So, I include the following to shed some light on why I photograph the things I do. For my first seven years, I lived in the northwest Indiana town of Fowler, where I remember having fun dismantling my toys (and occasionally putting them back together in different ways). The rest of my youth was spent in nearby Lafayette, where I was regularly involved with building projects. I particularly liked nailing together tree houses and hideouts in the woods behind our home because they provided a refuge from my five sisters. Because we lived at the bottom of two fairly long hills, I also put together a number of pushcarts. Then, by the time I reached high-school age, I progressed to crafting motorized mini-bikes and, eventually, a hot rod.Because I%u2019ve always had strong mechanical inclinations, and I lived near Purdue University, when it was time for college, I enrolled in Purdue%u2019s School of Engineering. However, the courses were too theoretical for my liking and midway through my freshman year I switched to an Industrial Education program. I really didn%u2019t want to be a shop teacher, which is what the curriculum prepared one for, but I enjoyed the coursework immensely. In fact, I thrived on the hands-on nature of woodworking, power mechanics, metalworking, etc. I particularly liked several graphic arts courses, where I picked up valuable information that would eventually help me publish a number of books. After graduating from Purdue, I accepted a Graduate Assistantship at Ball State University, and obtained my Masters degree. While in college, I took two of my electives in the Art Department, but never considered a switch to that major because I didn%u2019t think of myself as artistic. I considered myself more practical than an artist.