FILM & DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY
Born in the early 1960s in Pacific Grove, California, Mike Blanchard grew up surrounded by creativity. His parents’ circle included musicians, artists, photographers, filmmakers, and educators, with his father, Jerry, a renowned metalworker, and his mother a deeply creative and highly educated woman who opened the world before him. Gifted a Nikon F as a graduation present in 1979, Blanchard dove into photography, later drawing inspiration from Ansel Adams, the sons of Edward Weston, and masters like Cartier-Bresson. His career path wove through freelancing for local magazines, a tenure at Thrasher Magazine documenting skateboarding’s golden age, and a decade touring with the Americana band The Tattooed Love Dogs before co-founding Rust Magazine with his wife Laurieanne, a print publication celebrating gearhead culture that evolved into rustmag.com in 2017.
Photography has remained the through-line connecting Blanchard’s painting, music, and writing. He continues to create across mediums, finding inspiration in the interplay between disciplines:
“In my mind all these things are tied together,” said Blanchard. “They all support each other. There is something to learn from each of these things that make the other things better. The thing is to find something worthwhile that you can struggle with until the end of your life.”
