"Photography was a passing interest, at age seven," according to Michael Philip Manheim, "when Cousin Bill gave me a box camera. At age thirteen it kicked in hard."
"I was hooked," he recalled. "I became a kind of local treasure, winning contests with a good eye for composition but a whole lot to learn. I pursued photography with such a passion that it became my profession."
These were exciting years for technical advancements in photographic films and equipment. Creativity was frequently linked to the latest breakthroughs.
Manheim moved past a fascination with equipment for its own sake, learning to pick and choose what he came to regard as tools. He became a professional photographer in 1969.
It took years of experimentation to come up with a personal photographic vision. Manheim began his career as a photojournalist. He went through many phases in his profession, transitioning much later into a focus on themes of change and transformation.
Over the last score of years he developed a signature style of layering multiple exposures of authentic movement onto a single photographic frame. He created an impressionistic approach that transcends the literal.
Michael Philip Manheim's photography has been exhibited throughout the United States and in Germany, Greece, and Italy. His work has been featured in magazines such as Zoom (U.S. and Italy), Photographers International (Taiwan), La Fotografia (Spain), Black and White (U.S.), Ballet-Tanz (Germany), and many others.
Manheim's photographs are held in public and private collections. He has been artist-in-residence at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine and at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire.
"Photography was a passing interest, at age seven," according to Michael Philip Manheim, "when Cousin Bill gave me a box camera. At age thirteen it kicked in hard."
