About Bill Proud
After an honorable discharge, Bill worked a brief period for Paul Miller Studios in Longview, Texas, acquiring experience in color printing techniques. He attended Kilgore Junior College to obtain further education and was accepted for enrollment at the University of Texas. Bill earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering in 1972. While in school, he relied on his photographic experience to support himself, first as a student photographer for the college news and annual staffs and subsequently assisting the principle photographer for the Governor of Texas. His 20-year engineering career consisted of continuing advancement to plant manager level and then on to international engineering consultation assignments. While on assignment in England Bill purchased a Hasselblad camera to capture the incredible British architecture. Becoming disillusioned with engineering, he began a series of self-owned businesses including wedding and portrait photography. Bill photographed weddings and other business events for a few years but finally decided landscape and wildlife satisfied his artistic desires. A fortuitous relocation to Cortez, Colorado, placed him in the prime landscape country of southwestern Colorado, Utah and Arizona, which he has been photographing since 1994. With more than 250 publishing credits and several awards, Bill's work has appeared in numerous magazines and brochures including Grand Circle, Birds and Blooms, Archaeology, Lapidary Journal, Scientific American and Mesa Verde Country. His work has been used for posters, one for the Bureau of Land Management and a second with Zion National Park, and is also seen in travel catalogues. He has a number of cover credits including four consecutive years for Crow Canyon Archaeology Center. The prestigious Telluride Gallery of Fine Art represents his Telluride Rainbow photograph and he is the only photographer displaying fine art prints at Goulding’s Trading Post in Monument Valley. Bill is married and has two children and two grandchildren. He and his wife live in Summit Lake, Colorado, with their two black Labs, Chance and Jake. |
Bill served in the U.S. Navy from 1964 to 1968. An aptitude test indicated a propensity for photography and he attended the U.S. Naval School of Photography in Pensacola, Florida. Upon graduation he was assigned to a Naval intelligence facility in Washington D.C. for the duration of his four year duty, gaining experience in portraiture and printing techniques.