Marc McClish studied at Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, CA from 1991-94. In 1994, Marc moved to NYC and spent the next five years assisting Richard Avedon, four as his first assistant and studio manager. Avedon was a master of using light while making a portrait or fashion image and then working with the printer in the darkroom to give the photograph the emotional and visual presence he wanted to put into the world. Probably the greatest gift from Marc’s time working with Avedon, was becoming a master black and white printer with a critical eye and exacting standards.

Upon leaving Avedon’s studio, Marc opened a custom black and white lab, SilverWorks, in the Chelsea neighborhood of NYC. SilverWorks’ clients included Annie Leibovitz, Steven Meisel, Steven Klein, James Nachtwey, Bruce Davidson, Frank Ockenfels III, Patrick Demarchelier, and Richard Avedon to name a few. In 2006, Marc closed the lab and traded the city life for the Rocky Mountains, moving with his (then) young family to Nederland, CO.

Today, Marc continues to live in a house he designed and built in Ned and makes Chromascapes of places he visits. It’s been an adjustment trading the interactive dance with the enlarger light, rocking trays while the images appear on the paper, and the solitude of the darkroom for a souped up Mac and big Canon printers. Despite the changes in processes, Marc still feels the same thrill that he used to experience in the darkroom, working on his studio today making big beautiful prints.