Biography

William Bishop is a second generation Californian, born in Los Angeles and a resident of the San Francisco Bay Area since the early 1960’s. His grandfather, a commercial photographer, and his father, a water-colorist, were early influences.

Bishop studied photography in high school to obtain a formal grounding in technique. While there, he received an Eastman Kodak Scholastic Award for a series of 4x5 studies of pendulum patterns.

A love of the visual image, writing and music drew Bishop into Film studies at San Francisco State University. While pursuing Film, Bishop continued to study photography with Jack Welpott, Don Worth, Ruth Bernhard and Harry Callahan. After receiving a BFA in Film, Bishop worked as a filmmaker for four decades; variously as an editor, producer, writer, director and cinematographer. His work as a filmmaker has received worldwide recognition.

Bishop’s primary love has always been the single image—pure in it’s essential responsibility within the frame. He has been lucky enough to have had a profession that exercised a visual sensitivity until he could return to the true calling.

He currently lives and works in the Santa Cruz Mountains in Northern California with his wife Trudy.