Meet Douglas Isaac Busch

Today we’d like to introduce you to Douglas Isaac Busch. 

Hi Douglas, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born in Miami Beach, Florida in 1951 and currently reside in Malibu, California with a studio in Calabasas. My work encompasses over 50 years as a world-renowned photographer along with proudly holding the titles of inventor, teacher, artist, designer, gemologist, philanthropist, and architectural designer. 

I am a photographer who specializes in using the world’s largest portable view cameras of my own design to create large-format photographic contact prints. I have shot all subject types across a wide array including cityscapes, landscapes, portraits, nudes, and color. I studied at the University of Illinois, graduating in 1973 when I then moved to California. 

After I arrived on the West Coast, I became an assistant for Morley Baer, a renowned American photographer and art instructor at the San Francisco Art Institute as well as working with who I consider my mentor Al Weber. Along this journey, I had the unique opportunity to assist American landscape photographer and environmentalist Ansel Adams on Portfolio VI. 

Al Weber taught me the basics of the Zone System and how to expose the film through the finished mounted photograph. Ansel Adams showed me that beauty can be found anywhere, and Morley Baer introduced me to architectural photography and its corresponding equipment. Al Weber not only helped hone my skills as a photographer but also instilled in me the importance of being a good person by giving back and teaching others. Al Weber was also a Fine Art and architectural photographer. 

My efforts to reduce water waste began when I worked with the aforementioned men to save Mono Lake from LA draining it and developed a patent for a print washer that only used one cup of water per hour. The planet will run out of clean water if we do not change our current ways. Oddly enough this concept is becoming a part of modern-day California living and beyond. Critical rivers like the Colorado and the Mississippi River are drying up and climate change can lead to food crises and more. 

Ultimately, I’ve always wanted to leave the earth better than I found it. In my travels, I have learned that you can have beauty and sustainability at the same time. I’d like to think my current work and the work I hope to do in the future show that. 

At a point in my life, my photographic vision stagnated…different subjects but same metaphors. I started at the University of Illinois in architectural study and decided to open the architectural and landscape design studio I now run. Architectural photography and the City Projects I was working on led me back into architecture. I was fortunate to work with some great minds and see great photos that inspired me. This moved me from a two dimensional vision to a three dimensional vision through the architecture.

My innovative architectural work and water-wise landscape designs have caught the attention of many celebrities, and have been featured in publications such as Fortune, Robb Report, The Malibu Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, HGTV, New York Times, and many others. 

I am dedicated to the principles of healthy design and, as well as, sustainable building practices, which is why I created pH Living: Healthy Housing Systems. This provides homes for people who suffer from environmental allergies and chemical sensitivities (MCS). Not only that, but I also invented and developed a vertical herb and vegetable production system called Farm in a Box™. The patent allows the water to turn on when needed and turn off when completed automatically as needed. This reduces water waste and reduces mold. 

At Busch Design Build, we provide sustainable and eco-friendly architectural services that are based in Malibu, California. We also offer design and consulting services for edible gardens, landscapes, ponds, and more. EcoTech Design Studio is dedicated to providing sustainable, zero-carbon solutions for eco-friendly architecture, housing, and food production through education and example. 

I have mentored MFA photo students and assisted some in finishing their schooling. Together with my wife, Lori Bruce Busch in 2005, we started the No-Strings Foundation, a 501(c)(3) grant-making Foundation with a primary mission to provide direct financial support to individual photographers in the United States. If I can help others pursuing their passions there is no telling where it takes them and what they may accomplish and who they may inspire and help along their path. As the name implies, with no strings attached. 

I see the potential for greatness in everyday life, which allows me to take seemingly ordinary subjects and make them into metaphors; something unseen by the viewer with depth and insight whether that be through photography or design. 

My passionate and creative vision, along with expert craftsmanship, results in beautiful works that are simple yet still evoke the great artistic tradition from my eclectic background. 

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
From my experience as a photographer to an architectural designer, the biggest obstacle I have faced is people not understanding or valuing the vision. As an artist, I put so much time, thought, and passion into everything I do but it’s often hard to get others to see. The vision has become much more subtle over the years…it requires time to absorb the truth in them. 

Trying to maintain a balance between utility and artistic value is something I strive for. I do not do anything for the money…I do it because I want to, and the Universe always provides. Everything I do has to have both meaning and purpose. Although it can be tricky, this struggle is also what makes the work rewarding for me. 

Although it can be tough at times, I wouldn’t want to do anything else with my life. I love being able to express myself creatively and make a positive impact on the world however possible, whether that’s through photography, design work, mentoring, or philanthropy. 

Being an inventor comes with its own unique set of challenges, the primary one being finding the simplest solution to a problem. 

My advice for someone who is facing challenges in their life is to take things one day at a time. It can be easy to feel like you’re never going to overcome your challenges, but it’s important to remember that every day is a new opportunity to make progress. 

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My photography is featured in some of the world’s most well-known museums, such as the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Smithsonian Institution, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. 

I have been a designer for many years, and I began to design and build houses in the mid-1990s. To date, I have completed over 30 eco-friendly projects that use sustainable, low-carbon products to reduce waste and grow food. In 2009, I started ecoTECH Design Studio as a way not only to design and create these types of projects but also to educate the public through events such as “Greenposium.” 

At EcoPARK, guests were shown a variety of cutting-edge sustainable living technologies in action, such as solar tubing placed in the driveway and sauna to use the sun to heat the pool water, a fitness center that produces electricity from workouts, and an electric shuttle system. If you’re not going to educate people, they aren’t going to change their habits. 

The 6,000-foot learning center at ecoPARK was designed as a place where companies and sustainability experts could host events that would teach others how to live sustainably and healthy with a neutral carbon footprint and without harmful materials. We’re not suggesting that you necessarily have to give up anything, like media rooms or spa amenities. Rather, we simply want you to reevaluate the potential consequences of your current habits and our own carbon footprint. 

In 2011, I founded pH Living: Healthy Housing Systems. In partnership with Lawrence Gust, a certified building biologist and chairman of the board of Bau-Biologie and Ecology USA, we developed a healthy housing system for people who suffer from environmental allergies and chemical sensitivities (MCS). Our goal was to create a healthier alternative for people in general. 

What’s next?
I plan on continuing to work as a photographer, artist, architectural designer, and inventor as the work of an artist and creator continues to grow and evolve but as I grow older I realize that my passion for making a difference in the world has grown stronger which leads me to what I believe is my legacy project. 

In 2023 I will be debuting the plans for a new nonprofit multi-cultural art center educating viewers about tolerance through thought provoking art installations. Visitors will be moved through the immersive rotating artistic displays from world-renowned artists developing a connection between the audiences own understanding of history and emotional subconscious to reach new conclusions of the artistic work and their view of the world.  

Highlighted by masterfully designed architecture, the contemplative cultural art center exhibition gallery will offer a unification in duality concept that works to break the bonds of bigotry, ignorance, and intolerance through Art and education far beyond what is often experienced when viewing historic artifacts or reading history books while being implicit to not induce trauma.

Reflection gives way through both the artist’s meaning and the viewer’s interpretation with provided meditative spaces, a non-denominal chapel, gardens and waterscapes offering compassionate, caring places of peace that empower the viewers in a welcoming environment to learn humanity through the arts. 

This will be my legacy and even more importantly it will be a way that we can use art as a society to teach about what has happened in the past and the change needed to impact the future.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://douglasbusch.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buschdesignbuild/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/douglasbuschphotography/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/studiodougbusch
• Other: https://buschdesign.com & https://superlarge.com