Alan Forshee Photography

Alan Forshee is a St. Louis-based fine-art photographer whose work celebrates the landscapes, wildlife and aviation that have shaped his life.

Alan's connection to photography began in the early 1980s with a Minolta X-700 film camera, at roughly the same time he began a lifelong career in aviation. In 1982, he joined the United States Navy as an aircraft powerplant and fuel systems mechanic. His Navy service took him around the world and gave him opportunities to experience places, people and landscapes far beyond his Missouri roots.

After leaving the Navy, Alan continued his aviation career as an aircraft mechanic with McDonnell Douglas and later Boeing. An FAA-licensed Airframe and Powerplant mechanic, he went on to work in aircraft production management and ultimately served as Senior Manager of Quality Nondestructive Tests. That career gave him an understanding of aircraft that goes well beyond their appearance—the engineering, craftsmanship, history and people behind the machines. Today, that experience brings a distinctive perspective to his aviation photography.

But aviation is only one part of his photographic story.

Alan has always been drawn to the outdoors and to those fleeting moments when light, landscape and wildlife come together. Sunrise and sunset are particular favorites—not simply because of the light they produce, but because of the experience of being there: the changing color, quiet, sounds and atmosphere that accompany the beginning and end of a day. His landscape photography has taken him from his home state of Missouri to mountains, deserts, forests and coastlines across the United States. His existing work includes locations ranging from the Mississippi River and Missouri Ozarks to California's Sierra Nevada, the American Southwest and Gulf Coast.

Among wildlife subjects, none has captured his attention quite like the American Bald Eagle. Alan photographs Bald Eagles throughout the year in Missouri, particularly along the Mississippi River, studying their behavior as carefully as he photographs it. What began as another wildlife subject has developed into one of the defining bodies of work in his portfolio.

His aviation photography draws on an equally personal connection. After more than four decades around aircraft, Alan approaches an airshow with both a photographer's eye and an aviation professional's understanding of the subject. His portfolio encompasses historic warbirds, modern military aircraft, demonstration teams and heritage flights, including aircraft ranging from the B-17, B-29, P-40 and P-51 to the F-22 and contemporary demonstration teams.

Across these seemingly different subjects runs a common idea: Alan photographs experiences worth remembering.

Whether it is a Bald Eagle dropping toward the Mississippi River, first light reaching a mountain landscape, or two high-performance aircraft crossing at precisely the right instant, his goal is not simply to document what was in front of the camera. It is to create an image that conveys something of what it felt like to be there.

Alan's work is created with the finished photograph in mind. He particularly enjoys seeing an image move beyond the screen and become a physical print—something that can be displayed, lived with and shared with others. His fine-art photographs are available in a variety of presentation styles for homes, offices and commercial spaces. His current store already spans landscape, Bald Eagle, aviation and other collections.

Alan is a member of the International Society for Aviation Photography (ISAP) and the St. Louis Camera Club. His photography has earned first-place awards in multiple competitions as well as placements in others.

Through Alan Forshee Photography, he continues to travel, explore and create—with a particular focus on the three subjects that have become central to his work:

American Landscapes. Wildlife and Bald Eagles. Aviation.

And behind all three is the same purpose: to preserve extraordinary moments and create photographs that allow others to experience them long after the moment has passed.