Artist's Statement: Having spent my entire professional career in advertising and marketing, I have a keen sense of what is important and what makes something different. I apply this creative attribute to my photography. I shoot mostly black-and-white and black-and-white infrared because the subject takes precedent over the ambient. In infrared photography, you must develop an able sense to see the finished product because you capture what the eye can't see. It's a creative medium and the infrared subtleties help draw interest to the subject.

Michael Drone, a St. Louis native, has been an avid photographer throughout much of his thirty-plus year career in communications and advertising. Drone is the President and CEO of Drone & Mueller and Associates, a St. Louis-based marketing communications agency. In addition to photographing subjects ranging from people to architecture to industry, Drone also sponsors several annual student photography contests. "There are no rights or wrongs in photography," says Drone. "It's your world to enjoy through the viewfinder."