Robbi Ling Montgomery captures powerful yet healing themes in her photography. Her dual-concentration of the natural and modern worlds yields a diverse, variegated body of work ranging from vibrant floral imagery to the quiet, timeless mystery and romance of the Tuscan alleyway paved with ancient bricks.
With her explorative use of post-processing visual and graphical techniques, Montgomery draws out what she calls the "hidden beauty" behind the picture. In this contouring of the imagery, she recaptures a unique expression of almost tactile presence that photography has always sought to grasp. By sharpening the contrast or asserting new color, she also communicates an emotive presence that brings the viewer that much closer to the experience within the image. Though trained in traditional photography at Chicago Botanic Garden's Regenstein School, she delights in pursuing wildlife portraits. "I love to create stories with animals," she says. In covering landscapes, her art also uses the natural kinesis in an ecosystem to tell a story.
Montgomery earned her undergraduate and master's degrees at the University of Minnesota. As a lab scientist and educator in the healthcare field, her creative energies helped her design education units and creatively approach problem-solving while independently pursuing her artwork. She earned two certificates in photography from the Regenstein School after retiring to Illinois, where she creates and accentuates photography of the natural world around her in all seasons.
