Vernon Heger was born in 1917 in the small town of Forest River, North Dakota, during the heat of July. His father, Joseph, owned the town's bank and his mother, Minnie Sophia, was a renowned cook.His family came to California during the Depression.
He was a professional photographer all his life, having learned the craft at what is now Cal Arts, Los Angeles. He owned several portrait studios and went door to door taking photos of houses, later asking the owners if they would like a print. In the 40's he took many photos of wartime Hawaii and life in San Diego,California, documenting the big band era and daily life. These photos are in the Heger Collection at the San Diego Historical Society.
During the "space race" he was the supervisor of the photo lab at General Dynamics. His photo of the Atlas missile appeared on the cover of Life magazine, the premier photo journal of the time. He was lifetime member of the Society of Photographic Scientists and Engineers.
Previous to retirement and throughout his later years he investigated "art photography." In addition to thousands of smaller photos, approximately 10' x 10' photo prints were produced with the aid of specially constructed equipment. He used various proprietary chemical methods, generally to alter black and white prints into abstracted form. He was able to steadily and privately work on his vast collection of archival photography his entire life as both the photographer and printer. He was accepted into every art show he ever entered. Various styles of pictorial representation were presented with unusually sensitive quality resolution and brilliance.
