His eclectic style of photography ranges from a loose, complete disregard for rules to meticulously planned and precisely executed. His photo montages can appear devoid of digital intervention and his straight photography can look like painted illustrations. The bulk of his work lands somewhere in between with a unique photo-illustration feel. This style can be seen on the cover art of more than 1
200 novels. Many of them for New York Times best selling authors. Originally he had started out on the path to become a photo journalist. While studying photography he was introduced to photoshop and digital manipulation.
“ From an early age I have enjoyed photography and I have also enjoyed drawing and painting; When I was introduced to photoshop I realized I could bring these two worlds together in a way I didn’t previously know was possible.”
Allan embraced this technology and never looked back. Being an early adopter provided plenty of opportunity and he quickly found himself working with many of the top agencies for many of the world’s iconic brands. He now sits on the advisory committee for the School of Contemporary Media at Fanshawe College where he first got his taste of the technology that would define his career.
“ For me, the experience of photography lives in two very different and separate worlds. On one hand I have this innate curiosity and desire to capture the world as I see it. I thrive on experiencing the combination of beautiful light, an incredible location, and an intriguing story colliding in a moment in time. All of it unfolding in a beautiful composition that seems miraculously aligned for my vantage point. It is a rare event and the chance of this occurrence keeps me constantly interested in my surroundings. On the other hand I create the world as I imagine it. For this I photograph various elements of my surroundings in a way that allows me to use them to build larger more controlled compositions . I have amassed an enormous library of photographs from all over the world. I can draw on this library to add to specifically shot products or manifest concepts to meet the specific needs and demographics of my clients. This allows for time saving flexibility and can save on production costs. These two approaches to photography are completely different mindsets for me yet being open to serendipitous tangents even on the most controlled and planned photo-shoots can lead to a much better final creation. ”
Allan’s Fine art photography has won awards internationally and has been sold worldwide. His commercial work has garnered many international awards and has been reproduced in PDN, PRINT, Graphis, Applied Arts and Luerzer’s Archive. The product brochures created for the Cessna airplane company have won best of division nationally in the USA BMA awards, 6 times.
