Photography

For me, photography is about adventure and pushing science and art beyond the supposed limits and norms.

I say “supposed” because the limits and norms are boundaries either imposed upon us by the rules of the craft or the constraints we dream up in our heads.

For example, the “Natural Patterns Collection” uses my technical skills as a photographer and my creative abilities as an artist to paint with light. “Leaves and Wind,” depicted here is one of the photographs in the collection and one of the favorites among patrons. I love it, too. With this series, I work to capture or to create motion, through natural means such as wind or moving water, or through my own action such as panning or swiping. The goal is to express movement, reflection, texture and vivid color in photographs using an overall style similar to the Impressionist painters. Some of the photographs in “Natural Patterns” show form. Others suggest it, thereby allowing viewers to make what they wish of what they see in the images.

Concerning my photography practice overall, whether my goal is to create abstract images or to represent real scenes, I mostly work outdoors with natural light and with the elements and conditions nature provides. A photograph is the story of a singular moment ; just a little change of light, an incoming cloud, the arrival of a bee or a butterfly, changes a scene altogether. I enjoy using fog, reflection, falling snow, raindrops and shadows. I strive to convey a sense of wonder, and, when I work in the abstract, a feeling of mystery in the photographs I make.

When I work in a representational manner, I want viewers to see the many wondrous things we overlook in our busy lives. Flowers, old farms and abandoned industrial sites are subjects with which I work frequently.As I tell my students, the goal is to make the best photographs of which you are capable “in camera.”

As for equipment, I practice what I preach in that I also tell my students that although the latest bells and whistles of the trade are grand, making photographs is more about seeing than it is about automation and megapixels.  So, I work with the medium-format -film Holga (a real dinosaur) and with digital SLR cameras and lenses, shooting RAW format.