Cowboy Killer is a photographer and digital artist whose work combines composited photography with digital painting to create “scenes of surreal melancholy”. Formally trained in oil painting, he works with artificial light in suburban landscapes, producing images that draw comparisons to Edward Hopper and Gregory Crewdson.
He began as a museum intern at the University of Notre Dame's Snite Institute at age 15, working first as a digital artist and painter before turning to photography in his late teens. Influenced by David Hockney, Ansel Adams and Max Ernst, he takes a controlled yet impressionistic approach to landscape photography, shooting at night or dawn and leaving out context so each image reads as mystery. In his own writings he has described a past struggle with drug addiction, and says his photography became a path toward redemption. Photographs including Skeleton Key, Spineless and I Can Still Hear Your Voice, released on SuperRare, carry these themes of mystery and taboo.
