Illumination

A momentary glimpse of the sun as it breaks free of the clouds, filtering through the leaves and branches of a beautiful Japanese Maple tree.

Growing up, Cheyne took advantage of Southern California’s diverse regions, spending extensive time outside at local beaches and nearby mountains and deserts. During his years at Dana Hills High School, Cheyne excelled in sports and was on track to play baseball at the college level. However, an accident on the sports field brought his passion for photography to the forefront. Confined to a wheelchair and isolated from his friends and peers, Cheyne picked up his father’s old camera and spent hours in the backyard, shooting roll after roll of film. Cheyne was able to return to school for his senior year and graduated with honors in art. Cheyne was accepted to Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, CA. An internship in school led to a position as Editorial Photographer at the leading automotive magazine Motor Trend following graduation. This catapulted him into the world of automotive advertising photography. His work captured the interest of top automotive photographer, Vic Huber. Under Huber’s mentorship, Cheyne and the advertising crew photographed and filmed commercials for leading automotive brands including Range Rover, BMW, Mercedes, and Aston Martin. Traveling across America and throughout the world on these photo shoots, Cheyne fell in love with the diverse landscapes of the world. At age 24, Cheyne left that job to explore his true passion, discovering and capturing beauty of nature’s wonders. Leaving Los Angeles, CA, he spent 17 months traveling around Europe creating his first collection, Backpacking Through Europe. He found amazing beauty and wonderment in both nature’s elements and man’s designs. After almost two years abroad, Cheyne returned home to continue his travels, focusing on the Western United States. In early 2010, his fine art landscape piece “Absolute” took 2nd place in an international awards ceremony for landscape photography- making Cheyne the youngest ever to receive the honor. This led to invitations for him to show his work in art galleries and museums all over the U.S and parts of Europe. Following shows in Miami and New York City, Cheyne began work on his second collection Tranquility, a series of diverse natural terrains, which he unveiled in 2012 at the Festival of Arts/Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach, CA. He was honored as one of the youngest artists to ever display his work at this world-renowned art show.