Shawn Kosmala of New Beginnings Studio is an artist and art educator whose passion for photography was born in the dark. A regular in his high school's darkroom, Kosmala first fell in love with black-and-white photography.

Kosmala carried that passion to the MFA program at Rochester Institute of Technology. Though focused on painting, he could often be found at the school's printing department where he had discovered a dusty and deserted darkroom.

A keen observer might have noticed Kosmala's hidden hobby had they watched him take reference photos for his paintings, devoting the same care to the photos as to the paintings themselves – a practice he had picked up as an undergrad at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh where he studied illustration.

Practicing his craft in the shadows, Kosmala developed a different way of looking at the world and sharpened his creative eye as he deliberated over every shot before exposing to the light film he bought with his own scant resources.

As an artist, Kosmala draws upon his heritage and connectivity to nature and his surroundings. The primary focus of his work is in the natural world with an emphasis in macro.

Growing up in Western New York left Kosmala fascinated by the region's industrial history. The constant observation of that which fades and that which flourishes in its place inspired Kosmala's common theme of “found beauty” which portrays rust as a marker within the river of time and reveals the raw energy bursting forth in a flower's tiniest detail.

Many who see Kosmala's photos are attracted to the perspective as much as the skill behind the work, much of which is now on display in small and large businesses, health care facilities, government agencies and on the walls of private collectors.