ABOUT | Mysite

BOLLIN MADISON MILLNER, JR.

I was born in August 1954 and I retired in August 2019. It is great to have more time to take photographs and to learn more about photography in general.

As a teenager, I was interested in photography and used my Grandfather's Kodak Autographic, Jr bellows camera from the 1920s to begin exploring the medium. (You can see a picture of this camera at the very end of Gallery 2.) Soon enough, however, I set this interest aside and did not get back to it until many years later. The desire to get involved with photography never left me and from time to time I would borrow a friend's single lens reflex camera to experiment. Finally, in the 1990s I bought my first "serious" camera - a Minolta SLR 35mm film camera. Eventually I embraced the digital revolution and went with a Sony DSLR. I currently shoot with a Sony Alpha 7iii.

I have enjoyed taking several classes at the University of Richmond School of Continuing Education with Tom Veazey. Also, I have taken classes at the Studio School of Virginia Museum of Fine Arts with Regula Franz and with Monica Escamilla. During the pandemic I benefited from taking online courses. I have learned a great deal, and relish learning more each day.

My second solo show which featured 15 photographs was exhibited at Art Works Galleries in Richmond, Va. This show closed on July 21, 2024. I am pleased that five photographs were sold. The show was entitled, "A License to See."

My first solo show was in 2022. It featured 27 photographs, and ran from May 13, 2022 to August 14, 2022 at the Maria V. Howard Arts Center in the Imperial Centre for Arts and Sciences in Rocky Mount, N.C. The exhibit was entitled, "The Hope of Something Better" and Alicyn Wiedrich was the curator. It is great that six of the photographs in the show were sold.

I have been pleased to have my photographs selected for a number of juried shows. Two of my photographs were selected for the March/April 2025 "All That Jazz" exhibition at Crossroads Art Center in Richmond, Va . Three of my photographs were selected for an all media show at Art Works in Richmond, Va. This show opened July 25, 2025. The Juror, Naomi Chung, gave my photographs an Honorary Mention.

Also at Art Works one of my photographs was in the April 2023 juried show, another in May and a third in the All Media Show in June 2023. In addition, my work was selected to be in the all media "Jazz" exhibition at Artspace in Richmond, Va. This show ran from Feb 24 to March 18, 2023. Reaching a broader audience, one of my photographs was featured in the March 2023 Member Showcase of the Photographic Society of America.

For the past several years my work has been included in the "Simply Photography" exhibit at Art Works in Richmond, Va. Jurors have included Jeffrey Allison of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. My photographs have been selected for several different shows at the Crossroads Gallery in Richmond, Va. including the Members All Media Show in July 2023.

From November 15, 2024 through January 12, 2025 two of my photographs were on view as part of an exhibition at the VCU Medical Center Galleries. In July of 2025 two of my photographs were included in the "Moment in Time" exhibition at the Glenn Allen Virginia Cultural Arts Center. Both of these exhibitions were sponsored by the Camera Club of Richmond.

My photographs are held in private collections in Raleigh, NC , Hermosa Beach, CA and in Richmond, Va. Two of my photographs have been purchased by the Virginia Commonwealth University Children's Hospital to be part of their permanent collection. In addition, several of my works were purchased by Stifel Investment Services for their Rocky Mount, NC office.

Commercial work includes shooting photographs for the "Frequency Modulation Spectroscopy Module" brochure for Lighthouse Instruments in Charlottesville, Va. in May 2023. A second shoot for Lighthouse was undertaken in January of 2024. Also, I have done work for Kai'li Millner Interiors of Charlottesville, Va. for the business' web site (https://www.kailimillner.com/).

I am an active member of the Photographic Society of America as well as the Camera Club of Richmond.

I hope you enjoy the photographs on the "Gallery" links above. I welcome questions and comments so please use the "Contact" link above to be in touch. And I hope you will also check out my blog.

ARTIST'S STATEMENT

Joel Meyerowitz has said, “Once you have a camera in your hand, you have a license to see. And seeing is what photography is all about." Thus equipped, I move through the world entranced by shapes, forms and lines. I am drawn by human made rectangles, squares, circles, arches and by spirals, waves and other patterns that occur in nature. Reflections and repetition are additional bonuses. Ultimately, in the photographs I make I try to capture a sense of harmony and peace, where the discrete elements relate to one another in compelling ways. More often than not, my photographs do not feature people, but rather leave space for the viewers themselves to populate the image. If anything I have done causes you to pause for a moment and see the world in a new way, I will have succeeded.