ART LETS MAN GET PAST PAIN.

Byline: Helen Gao Staff Writer

BURBANK - Instead of letting adversity get him down, Michael E. Stern has elevated it into art.

The 45-year-old Burbank photographer, who was forced to give up aerial photography and location shooting because of three bouts of benign spinal tumors, recently created a series of fine art digital images, using X-rays of his own body and others.

The ``Bone Daddy'' collection features some five dozen images of skulls, skeletons, spines, and various bones in black and white and in blazing colors. The series can be viewed at www.cyberstern.com.

``Because of all these health issues I've dealt with in my life, I've kept a set of X-rays with me. It gets pretty depressing sometimes,'' Stern said in a recent interview at his studio on Magnolia Boulevard.

``I wanted to turn something negative into something positive. I wanted to scan (the X-rays), work through it and have it not be such a negative thing in my life,'' he said.

One of his first pieces in the ``Bone Daddy'' series is an image of his lumbar region in silhouette, crawling with clusters of pink, green and yellow dots. That image, he said, was his way of expressing disease in bones.

Other X-rays used in ``Bone Daddy'' come from friends; from his father- in-law, who is a retired brain surgeon; and a sister-in-law, who is a veterinarian.

Aside from its therapeutic value, ``Bone Daddy'' has also become the launching pad for a new career as a digital artist for Stern, who has found it increasingly difficult to survive as a photographer.

After 15 years in remission, Stern's tumors came back in 1986, requiring an operation to remove a portion of his spine. The operation weakened the right side of his body and restricted him to studio work.

And as digital technology swept into his industry, he found the demand for his traditional photography service declined drastically.

So in 1999, Stern took a year off to learn Adobe Photoshop, a computer program that allows the manipulation of photographic images. He averaged 30 hours a week in his studio reading books, playing with pixels and pounding on the keyboard.

And, as an exercise, Stern started working on ``Bone Daddy.''

The series has caught the attention of the California Chiropractic Association, which has used his work for its magazine covers and has commissioned several pieces.

Stern has now branched into digital restoration and enhancement.

Last year, he restored 140 historical aviation photographs for Disney's new California Adventure theme park. The pictures adorn the hallways of the Soarin' Over California flight simulator and the Taste Pilot Restaurant.

Stern also is working on a project to restore 120 photographs of the private and public life of former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley. The pictures will be put on permanent display inside the Tom Bradley International Student & Scholar Center at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Oftentimes, pictures sent to Stern for restoration have yellowed or are scratched or damaged, but he is able to fix the flaws and make them look as though they are new, said Joel Binder, vice president of public relations for Buena Vista Home Entertainment, an international arm of Disney.

``I've used him to photograph some original artwork. In the old days, he would make slides for me. Now he would take the original art work, scan it and deliver it to me on a CD,'' Binder said. ``He has really grown with the industry.''

In addition to running a studio, the Burbank photographer and digital artist teaches Adobe Photoshop for the Burbank Unified School District and Glendale Community College.

``The technology has absolutely re-energized my passion for image- making,'' Stern said. ``I've been doing this for 22 years. I am still excited about coming to work in the morning.''

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Photo:

Photographer Michael Stern has turned his medical tribulations into art, featuring his own X-rays in his latest collection.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer