The 7 Best Fine Art Photographers in St. Louis

Sitting on the west bank of the Mississippi River that gave it life, St. Louis is one of the most iconic cities of the Midwest. Baseball, beer, and a world-famous arch are just a few of the attractions St. Louis has to offer. A number of talented photographers also call the Gateway to the West home. If you’re looking for a fine art photographer for your next wedding, portrait, or landscape commission, rest assured. We’ve assembled a handy list of the best St. Louis fine art photographers below.

1. Heather Roth

Having studied fine art, photography, and fashion in college, Heather Roth brings both formal education and a personal joy of the artform to each of her shoots. Heather covers fine art weddings, boudoir, lifestyle, and portrait shoots in the St. Louis area. Looking through her portfolio, we’re struck by her love of a film-like grain in color and monochrome that adds to the classic flavor of her photography.

Heather also uses intriguing compositions that prioritize filling the subject within the frame over a classic portrait approach. She uses bright highlights to give her subjects a pleasing warm glow which, combined with a gentle pastel color palette, gives skin tones a soft, rich appearance. The muted colors also lend emphasis to expressions, textures in clothing, and the venue over vivid, attention-grabbing colors. Heather Roth’s style and experience makes her one of our top choices for best St. Louis fine art photographers.

2. Greg Matchick

Self-taught photographer Greg Matchick began his career in film photography, which has greatly influenced his style as he transitioned to the digital media of today. His cityscape and landscape images focus mostly on Europe and his home state of Missouri, with quite a bit of extra tidbits thrown in for diversity. His takes on iconic locations, such as the Eiffel Tower and the Alhambra Palace, often using unexpected angles that give us a fresh appreciation for the architecture.

His photographs frequently suggest human elements, such as buildings and park benches, without actually including people. This approach gives his art a style hinting at peace and spaciousness. Greg’s color images use a very true-to-life approach that makes it easy to envision and appreciate the natural beauty over the more vivid HDR approaches of most modern photographers.

3. Justine Wright

Fine-art lifestyle, portraiture, and wedding photographer Justine Wright has a lot to offer above her competition in the photography world of St. Louis. For starters, we genuinely enjoy her environmental portraiture approach. Instead of relying solely on shallow depth of field to carry her images, she includes elements from the background to add emphasis and isolation to her subjects. Jessica also employs soft focus on subjects for a documentary-type feel.

Her natural poses are also quite fresh, with kneeling, embraces, and laughter that adds emotion in ways not often seen in portraiture. Justine’s color palette is as bright and cheerful as her subjects, with lovely pastel shades and bright highlights to give more weight to skin tones and expressions. Each of these subtle yet significant departures from classic portraiture are why we’ve listed her as one of the most talented St. Louis fine art photographers.

4. Mike Cassimatis

Mike Cassimatis’s work has been featured in numerous publications, including Martha Stewart Weddings, Style Me Pretty, and Southern Weddings. He’s also been named photographer of the year at the Saint Louis Wedding Awards and for good reason! As a medium-format film photographer, Mike’s style has that unique color pop and subject isolation that only medium format can offer.

Combined with his love of destination weddings to places like Croatia; Chicago, IL; and Charleston, SC; his experience in diverse settings means he’ll always be up for capturing an angle that showcases both you and your venue in a gorgeous way. He mixes classic and environmental portraiture with documentary photography using a balanced approach, giving each client a thorough taste of all three styles. 

5. Rona Leah

It’s rare to find true fine art portrait photographers who can create images that remind us of paintings, but Rona Leah’s fine art portraiture does precisely this! Her work begins with a consultation followed by a studio session where your combined vision, controlled lighting, and elegant furniture come together to create the first stage of her art.

With just the right touch-ups, Rona creates fine art portraits that hearken back to the master painters of antiquity. Graceful poses, bright yet relaxed expressions, and flowing clothes all create an image flavor ranging from contemporary to Renaissance. Each of these heirloom portraits beg to grace a living room wall space or mantle.

6. Lindsay Blum

Lindsay Blum’s emphasis on creating connections through art is striking. In her own words, “I truly believe that establishing a closer connection with my wedding clients is a key ingredient to creating genuine, emotional storytelling. Photographs are one of the few remaining tangible artifacts from your wedding. Being able to reconnect to those emotions through photography will bring you back to that special place in time, over and over again.”

Each of her images is an invitation to feel — be it joy, intimacy, laughter, or love. Plus, her work often includes iconic St. Louis locations like the Gateway Arch and Art Hill. Lindsay’s color palette is very true to life, frequently employing golden-hour tones for an even, warm natural light. It’s no surprise she’s among the top St. Louis fine art photographers.

7. Matthew Stuart Piper

While landscape photographers are increasingly common, infrared photography remains a fairly niche art form. Employing light exposures normally invisible to the naked eye, infrared photography gives landscapes a vision that’s at once familiar yet drastically altered. Image contrast gets a significant boost, and the reduced color palette brings out sharpness and details missed in traditional photography styles.

Matt says it best in his own words: “I think of my work as ‘dreamscapes,’ or as still photography’s version of ‘magical realism.’ Photographing already beautiful locations in color infrared gives them a surreal quality that takes the artwork to a new expressive level.” Matt offers infrared landscapes as limited edition prints and commission pieces upon request. 

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