Vahé Peroomian

Sunset on the Merced, Photograph Sunset.

2019

Vahé Peroomian is a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Southern California. He received a Ph.D. in Physics from UCLA in 1994, specializing in space physics, and has carried out research in that field for the past 25 years. Vahé’s love of photography was sparked by a gift of a Kodak “toy” camera with a roll of 120 film when he was 10 years old, grew through the years and blossomed into a passion nearly two decades ago. Since then, he has taken every opportunity to pursue his fascination with photography and the beauty of the Gaian landscape. He is a self-trained photographer, and prefers a hands-on approach and independent experimentation with photographic styles and techniques. He has found that the same off-the-wall approach that works in solving physics problems helps him see landscapes in a new light as well. The self-similar shapes in landscapes, and the play between cloud and landscape that characterize many of his photographs are a manifestation of this viewpoint. Vahe has traveled far and wide during the last several decades, photographing many of the national parks in the western U.S., the kaleidoscopic landscapes of California, as well as the wonders of India, Singapore, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, Croatia, . He has participated in numerous solo, group, and juried photography exhibitions, and has been a Nominee of the prestigious Black and White Spider Awards on five occasions, most recently in 2017 with two images, one of which also received Honorable Mention. He has also won first place in the Black and White Landscapes category at the 20th Annual Louisville Art Association Juried Photography Show, the Founder’s Choice Award at the 2011 Infinity Art Gallery exhibition, and is a four-time participant of PhotoSpiva, the longest running juried photography exhibition in the United States.