Don Conrard is an award-winning Seattle-based photographer specializing in black & white street, documentary, and travel photography. He is the retired staff photographer for Alaska Airlines.

Don’s interest in photography began in the late 1950s when his parents gave him an Imperial Mark 27 box camera (photo below) they received for subscribing to a local newspaper.

He cut his photographic teeth working on school newspapers and annuals in junior high, high school, and college.

While working on school papers Don developed an interest in photojournalism and street photography. After graduation, he studied with Ansel Adams during what he calls his "large format landscape phase," but quickly returned to the street. A 45-year career as as a corporate staff photographer paid the bills.

Working for an airline gave Don the opportunity to practice street photography in more than 70 countries on five continents.

In retirement, he continues to prowl city streets and back alleys with his camera capturing life as it happens.

In My Camera Bag

I still reach most often for my Nikon D850. Nikon’s DSLR system offers an extraordinary range of lenses and produces gorgeous, high‑resolution files. The tradeoff, of course, is weight. Traveling through airports with a backpack full of DSLR gear is a workout I didn’t ask for, and big cameras can feel a bit too conspicuous.

To lighten the load, I recently added a Nikon Z7 II and Nikon Z6 III, along with a growing set of Z‑mount lenses. Together they give me a pair of high‑quality, travel‑friendly bodies that are far easier to carry all day—whether I’m wandering city streets or navigating international terminals.

Over the years, I’ve also worked with a wide assortment of film and digital cameras from Nikon, Hasselblad, Pentax, Leica, Fujifilm, and Mamiya. A Horseman 4×5 view camera with Schneider lenses rounds out the pre‑digital chapter of my kit.