Biograhical Notes

Gregory Burke was born on march 10, 1945 in San Francisco, California. He currently resides in Sacramento, California. At the age of 20, While in the Army and stationed at Fort Sam Houston Texas, he was introduced to the art of photography by a 14 year old brother of a girl friend he met through the USO. The young boy was a freelancer for a local newspaper, and was very gifted and knowledgeable in advanced techniques. The boy also led Gregory to ownership of his first really good camera–a German Rolicord. After leaving the service Gregory became chummy with a number of hippy musicians in Sacramento and San Francisco. Over the next few years he shot many rock and folk concerts . Eventually he began using photography also in the art of print making (serigraphs, lithographs) and became known for that work winning a coveted creativity award from American River College. He was also known for sensitive reproductions of various historic American Indians by E.S. Curtis, a famous photographer from the 1920’s, who accomplished a rigorous study of the American Indians. Gregory had produced graphics and designed calendars over two years for the L.A. Museum of Natural History using E.S. Curtis work as the theme. Gregory was then hired to work on a publication called “Instant Replay” a popular sports magazine during the early 70’s . He was eventually hired to work as “creativity director” for the Great American Film Factory, an outdoor education firm. He shot a winter survival series in the Sierra Nevadas while concurrently photographing for Jansport and K-2 companies. Gregory moved to the foot hills and lived peacfully with his wife and three daughters. While living on the “divide” he started a small photo studio called Burke Photo. However, financial circumstances caused the family to return to Sacramento. Gregory decided to go back to Sacramento City College and spent two full years majoring in English and Photography updating his skills in digital photography. His world travels included the Middle East, Rome, Italy, France and England.