Although Walter Sawka has been involved in photography since about the age of 13, he did not seriously pursue Black and White photography until approximately the fall of 1988, when he first saw the works of the famous photographer Ansel Adams. Mr. Adams' photographs so impressed Walter that he immediately signed up for a photography workshop which focused on Black and White print-making.

He has attended numerous additional workshops in his never-ending pursuit of the mastery of Black and White photography, and in particular, expressive printing, including those instructed by John Sexton, Bruce Barnbaum, Howard Bond, and Daniel Anderson.

He received a lot of encouragement from his wife Debbie, who also serves in the role of critic of his work. Her insightful comments are a tremendous help in the selection and printing of the images which form part of his current portfolio.

Walter has had an interest in nature and the landscape for a long time, and uses photography as the means of expressing his personal vision of the beauty and majesty of the physical world. It is his fervent wish that viewers of his images be inspired to actively protect the earth from pollution and other current and future hazards. He prefers to photograph in Black and White rather than in colour, because this provides him the opportunity to present the scene as a more graphical representation.

He has recently converted to photographing with a digital camera, and some of his images are now displayed as colour images. He continues to work with Black and White negatives, scanning them for the digital process. Walter has submitted photographs to several Kodak Toronto and vicinity camera club competitions, earning numerous awards. His photographs have been exhibited at the Etobicoke School Board, various galleries in the vicinity of Toronto and in Montreal in a joint exhibit with his mother Daria Sawka, an artist in her own right.