Mike Northington has been a photographer for  thirty-five years and has won prizes and awards in a number of photographic exhibits and competitions. He has also been an avid art collector for nearly fifty years, and this interest, too, has significantly served to inform his own work.

During his formative years as a photographer, it was his good fortune to learn various aspects of the photographic craft, in both classroom and field settings, from a number of gifted professionals who taught at the University of Alabama- Birmingham. Members of that faculty who most influenced his style and methods included Charles Walton (Senior Food Photographer for Southern Living), Mike Rivers (freelance professional), and Bahman Farzad (same).

Very early in his development, Northington was also greatly impressed (and thus greatly influenced) by the work of such great photographers as Freeman Patterson, Ernst Haas, Edward Steichen, and Eliot Porter. It was his study of the work of these and other photographers and artists (and his discovery of what in their work he found most appealing) that ultimately lead Northington to the distillation of a philosophy which identifies his own style.

While many photographers view photography as a craft which enables one to "capture a moment in time" and approach their work from that standpoint, Northington is more interested in making a push to bridge the gap that exists between the essence of photography and that of the more painterly arts. As well, he attempts in much of his work to create images which defy or seem to stand outside of time, as evidenced by many of his abstract and close-in efforts.

Simply put, Northington's photographic motivation is a passion to create beauty with images that arrest, intrigue, or soothe. What perpetuates his passion for this pursuit is his belief that he only rarely fully suceeds in his quest. May all who view his work here leave the site with a smile and the feeling their time was well spent.