A self-taught photographer with a background in painting, Greg Holland‘s art is an interesting combination of the two forms of art. Continuously exploring the relation between people and their environments, he focuses on portraiture in which faces emerge or recede from the background.

In his day time job, Greg is teaching full time, but recently he decided to put this job on hold and pursue his passion in art and music. From his early childhood years he was passionate about art and drumming, but the road led him to earn a BFA in painting and a BA in secondary education in 2002. Since then Greg has been teaching with assignments in middle school math, elementary special-ed, middle school art, and high school photography. Since 2011, Greg has been pursuing his two passions, based in his studio in Fairfield, IA.

Here is the logic behind Greg’s Art and the issues he addresses when coming up with a concept for his works:

In the process of making the art, I enjoy playing with interactions between people and elements such as color, texture, line, and form. As I play and create, I begin to think about our connectedness to our environment. How does our relationship with our surroundings change how we’re perceived? What transformations occur in our environment as a result of our actions? When things and beings are juxtaposed, what questions or emotions arise as a result of their relationship? And can we confront our questions and emotions? Or would that require a shift in perspective?

Enjoy a selection of his works below and explore some works in which the traditional lines of art blur and make way for some interesting experiments.

Photos used with permission of Greg Holland