Welcome to my website. I am a Cincinnati photographer, and this site reflects my online gallery of photographic images that are available for direct purchase as fine art prints or as stock images in the form of digital files.

With Cincinnati as my home town, the site is replete with Cincinnati photographs including local architectural icons as well as street scenes and local inhabitants. Mt Adams, Cincinnati's Over the Rhine neighborhood, and downtown Cincinnati are my primary focus, but rural Cincinnati scenes are also included, as are some northern Kentucky photographs from just across the Ohio River. Since my camera is an ever present companion, no region of the city or subject matter is considered off limits, safety concerns notwithstanding. Regular visits to New York City have allowed me to complement the website with a significant number of New York City photographs.The latter collection is also best classified as architectural photography and street photography. Travel photographs from a variety of locations are also represented. The images are eclectic without a common theme or mood. They merely reflect small moments of time captured from my surrounding milieu, wherever that may be. It will be apparent that my bias is black and white photography, as these images predominate on the website, but I am always on alert for any color photographs that the black and white medium could just never do justice to.

I am unaware of any exact definition for so-called fine art photography, but for me the term implies a photograph that is collectible, which in turn implies that the photographer has issued limited numbered editions, has paid meticulous attention to the quality of the image, and has printed the image on an archival medium for prolonged longevity. By these criteria my prints certainly qualify as such. Of course any art is in the eye of the beholder.

For those of you interested in Cincinnati Ohio stock photography, New York City stock photography, or other photographic stock images, please contact me personally for your specific needs. Some of the "people" images may not be available as stock photography, as model releases have not been obtained for all images. I am continually adding new photographs to the site, so feel free to re-visit from time to time.

Kevin Monroe

This website is the result of a confluence of forces. For years, my photographs have been accumulating at home, with only a few ever having been publicly displayed. In 2001 a fellow photographer commented to me that “a great photograph is worthless if there is no one to see it”. I wrestled with this for a while, since I knew it to be true, but also knew that to show my photos in any venue would require a monumental effort and consumption of “precious” free time. Concurrently, the advances in digital printing/scanning technology were allowing photographers to produce spectacular photographic quality prints in their digital darkrooms. Also, there was admittedly a smoldering desire on my behalf to make some sort of a contribution, small as it may be, to the Cincinnati art community as a whole and more specifically to the Cincinnati photography community. From this primordium, the concept of a virtual fine art photographic gallery eventually gelled. It is not a perfect venue, as there is no substitute for viewing a well framed matted photograph in the flesh, where the paper texture, filigree detail, and liquid blacks provide a richness that is unattainable online. It does at least provide a needed outlet for myself and the potential for a global viewing audience 24 hours a day. 

All images taken prior to early 2005 have their origin in 35mm film which is scanned as a high resolution file into Adobe Photoshop. For the vast majority of images the subsequent file is subjected to the usual tweaking/cropping that would occur in a conventional wet darkroom, remaining as true as possible to the originally- captured image. Rarely, the cloning tool is used to remove small distractions during the scan cleaning process.The essence of the image is otherwise not altered. There are a few images in each gallery where I have taken the liberty to use more substantial image manipulation. The latter could invole a variety of techniques, but in each case any excessive digital manipulation is decribed in the INFO box beneath the image. Given the technology available, I find the temptation to have a little fun with some of the images irresistible. An occasional photomontage is included. As of Feb. 2005 I have made the digital plunge and have begun using the 16megapixel Canon 1Ds Mark II as my primary imagemaker. Between Feb. 2005 and September 2006, I designanted all digitally catured images as " digital image capture" in the info box. Having no intention of returning to the 35mm film for image capture, I've decided to stop the process of the digital designation in the info box( as of Sept., 2006). Virtually all images on this website taken after Feb., 2005 will be "digital image capture". The images are shot in the RAW format and then converted/processed in Photoshop CS. Cincinnati stock, New York City stock, or other stock images are available as 300dpi digital files in sizes compatible with high quality 35mm format images. Images sold as fine art prints may also be sold as a stock images as the occasion arises. Please see the print and purchase page of this website for technical information on the prints.

As my home base is Cincinnati, Ohio there is a healthy, but certainly not exclusive, representation of Cincinnati scenes in this gallery. No, it’s not New York City or Paris, but I never (well almost never) feel as if I’m trying to squeeze blood out an onion here …. more like an interesting conversation, where you never know what you’ll find down the next avenue . Thankfully, Rue Ordinaire serves up enough surprises to keep life interesting. Thanks for your patronage!

Kevin Monroe

1. www.photopathy.com
2. www.photolinks.com
3. www.photo.net
4. Photography Directory
5. www.photoclicks.net
6. www.photographersindex.com
7. CincinnatiWebGuide.com - Our Largest Local Website Directory
8. www.picturecorrect.com
9. Fine Art Photography
10. Mark Raymond Mason Fine Art Abstract Photography