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PHOTOGRAPHERS OF DESIGN

>>> Paul Kohlman, Colorado Springs, Colorado

Paul Kohlman is where he's wanted to be since he was 16 years old: peering into the viewfinder of a camera, creating memorable photographic images. "When I was a teenager, I discovered the thrills and magic of photography, and of the darkroom," the Colorado Springs architectural photographer explains. "I knew that this was what I wanted to do."

His career path, though, led him in an opposite direction. "About the time I discovered photography, I was also doing construction work," explains Kohlman, a native of Albuquerque, New Mexico. "But I went to a local portrait studio and asked for a job, just so I could learn about photography. The owner was an old man, and he told me there was no money in photography and that I was better off in construction."

Paul Kohlman's images capture the layers, angles and curves of interior projects, as well as architecture.

Kohlman took the older man's advice, becoming a subcontractor specializing in interior trim and, later, opening up a high-end cabinetry shop. "I had the cabinetry business for 16 years," Kohlman says, "and I grew bored with it, so I sold it — then I was thinking about what I wanted to do for the rest of my life."

His photographic destiny, it seems, was right around the corner. Kohlman's cousin worked at an Albuquerque advertising agency that needed some cabinetry built and installed. Even though he was officially out of the cabinetry business, Kohlman took the job — and discovered an unused photo studio at the agency's office. He offered to do the agency's photography if they allowed him a learning curve. "I did a horrible job at first," he recalls with a laugh, "but the 'creatives' at the agency guided me. The studio was downstairs, and I would run up and down with Polaroids of the image until they told me I got it right."

What was supposed to be a six-month stint of on-the-job learning turned into two years of photographic stair-mastering at the agency. "I've always been the type to do my own business, though," he says, "so in 1999, I opened my own photographic business. I had no clients, and more gumption than business sense. I think I grossed $7,000 in sales during that first year."

Kohlman turned to his cabinetry-making clients for his first photo jobs. "I saw really poor photography in the newspaper for homebuilders' ads. I called them up and asked them if I could reshoot their projects. If they liked them, they could buy the images. If not, they didn't have to pay me," he says.

After a few years, Kohlman's business thrived, in part due to his "fanaticism about learning the science of photography," as well as his ability to know what homebuilders, as well as architects and interior designers, were looking for in an architectural image. "I was in the business for many years. I know how things are supposed to be built and put together," he says.

With digital technology, he's also learned how to "clean things up" in post-production, removing such things as grease spots from parking lots and unwanted signage from building exteriors. "You have to learn who wants what removed when you do post-production work," Kohlman notes. "Interior designers want all the outlets removed from a room scene. A contractor, on the other hand, wants everything left in so that future clients know that they installed everything correctly and safely."

In 2005, Kohlman moved himself and his business, lock, stock and lenses, to Colorado Springs, attracted by a better, greener and cooler lifestyle. He's picked up new, Colorado-based clients and kept some of his Albuquerque contacts. Kohlman has also been shooting for local and regional magazines, as well as advertising agencies, for whom his subjects range from food and products to people.

"This is what I've always wanted to do," he says. "It just took me a while to get back to it."

Paul Kohlman Photography, Colorado Springs, CO; (719) 494-9144 or www.paulkohlman.com.