Cameron Gillie Bio

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Cameron Gillie Bio

Cameron Gillie’s true passion in photography is documenting the wonders of the natural world.

In Cameron’s childhood days, before careers, bills and mortgages, he was drawn to the woods on his family’s farm, exploring the Two Rivers in Northern Minnesota. His first roll of film was shot was with his father’s antique Kodak Brownie while walking the frozen riverbed that ran through their backyard in rural northern Minnesota.

From that start, career pursuits took Cameron Gillie to the Colorado Institute of Art to earn a degree in photography and his first newspaper job at the Greeley Tribune. From there he moved to Naples, Florida to work at the Naples Daily News, where the Everglades sparked Cameron’s inspiration to explore nature again. His first big project at the Naples Daily News was to canoe the “Wilderness Waterway” to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Everglades National Park. That 100-mile, eight-day wilderness trip started what would become an infatuation with this remarkable place.

Cameron Gillie taking a wildlife photograph in the Florida Everglades.
Waiting to make an image in one of my favorite places on earth. The Florida Everglades.

Many stories and trips after that one, Cameron Gillie started a personal project, “Waterscapes.” Inspired by photographers like Clyde Butcher and Jim Brandenburg, he worked tirelessly on vacations, weekends and after work to develop his own style of nature photography.

Freelance Career

Meeting his future wife, Nazan, while on an assignment in Louisiana prompted him to move to Louisiana to start his own freelance business. The couple have now relocated to Madison, Wisconsin, where Cameron has refocused his attention on nature photography and fine art photography and participates in art fairs around Wisconsin, the Midwest and Florida.

As a photojournalist Cameron has photographed countless subjects on four continents in activities ranging from everyday life, professional sports, riots and weddings. He has now come full circle to that day his father loaded a roll of film in that old Brownie and Cameron trudged through the snow photographing the river behind his house. He is back photographing quiet places that renew the soul.

Pinhole

Cameron Gillie taking a pinhole photograph in Istanbul, Turkey
taking a pinhole photograph on the streets of Istanbul, Turkey.

Cameron Gillie found himself wanting to push his photography to another level at art fairs. He undertook a new project, taking photographs with nothing but a pinhole camera. The goal was to do something no one else in the country was presenting at art fairs. Cameron wanted to see if he could eventually participate in art fairs exclusively with pinhole photography. After a year of building a portfolio of pinhole photography, he applied to the Lakefront Festival of Art at the Milwaukee Museum of Art. Lakefront is one of the most prestigious art fairs in the country and was his first acceptance to an art fair with pinhole photography! Since then Cameron has been honored with numerous awards for his pinhole photography.