Ira Lippke was born to bohemian parents who raised him and his four younger siblings in a converted school bus in Colorado and Washington State. With forests, orchards and mountains serving as his schoolhouse, Lippke developed an acute visual sensibility that found its perfect outlet in photography, which he immersed himself from the age of 14. Capturing nature’s own grid of tree and horizon, mountain and sky, Lippke took to the seemingly alchemical process of photography and taught himself its complexities through borrowed books and the example of such masters as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Doisneau, Anton Corbijn, and Edward Weston.

Without the intrusion of mainstream culture’s image-saturated mediascape, Lippke was able to develop an ability to frame the everyday in an unusual and distinctly personal way. His early photographic acumen was matched only by his deep appreciation for narrative, instilled at an early age by a passion for reading and his family’s intimate tradition of mealtime storytelling. Living near Seattle in the early-1990s, Lippke was exposed to the hothouse atmosphere of the music and art scene and further honed his talent shooting bands.

Upon relocating to Los Angeles in 1993 to study the Humanities at Biola University, Lippke opened up his own commercial studio in nearby Long Beach, where he began shooting the weddings of musicians, designers, and others who desired a fresh perspective to document their lives. While continuing to evolve his own fine art and international documentary work, over the next 15 years Lippke has become one of the country’s most celebrated wedding photographers, known for his ability to capture the distinct style and emotional ambiance of every event with sophistication and professionalism.

Lippke is an avid collector of contemporary fine-art photography and spends his free time surfing, riding his motorcycle, following independent film and music, reading and engaging family and friends in lively conversation.