Artist's Statement
I look for images inside the ordinary or mundane that excite me. In most cases, the images I choose are those that stir my senses, evoke mood, and suggest a story. An abandoned shoe, and darkened portal, a feather caught in the limb of a tree, these are images that pique my own imagination.
My work has frequently been referred to as "painterly" by artists and appreciators. At times, I have been asked if my work is a photo or a painting. I'm thrilled when I hear this, because I know they "get" what I'm reaching for. Which is, attempting to create photos that are a step apart from realism.
Where others might see junk, deriliction, or ugliness, I strive to find the beauty. There is beauty everywhere...beauty that escapes us because we simply don't have the time or inclination to stop and look for it. This is the beauty I look for with my camera. I look at my photographs as paintings that I "discove"r and then hone with my camera.
A fan of abstract expressionism, I seek to create work that pares down images so that color, texture and composition are interestingly combined but spare and uncluttered.
When I find a subject that captures my attention, I explore the possibilities from many angles and field depths until I find the compositions that speak to me the most. From that point, I begin the process of editing and processing the image in the digital darkroom. Digital darkrooms are are better for our health and for our environment because they do not use harmful chemicals.
I print my images on museum quality, fine art, archival cotton papers and ultrachrome archival inks. I create each print myself, by hand, on a professional, large format Epson printer with great attention to the smallest details.
|
