Artist's Statement

Perhaps, because much of my work tends towards realism, my photographs often are described as traditional. In fact, many of my primary influences come from the writings and works of photography early masters, including Porter, Feininger, Steichen, and Strand, to name a few.

While I welcome a comparison to the past, realism is merely a means to an end. Rather, I believe that my artistic vision is driven more by my background in the social sciences, especially anthropology and history, than by my great admiration for photography's early masters.

My real interest is to capture timeless moments in the landscape, and, if the land has been influenced by man, to stimulate curiosity about how, when and why.

Making a photograph is a struggle between my mind’s eye and the subject. Eventually, they merge in a peaceful coexistence. The resulting photograph becomes more than the subject. The viewer can’t possibly travel to this place with me -- it is mine. Instead, hopefully, the image before them will ignite their own internal journey to a time and place of their own. The key is to look.

Perhaps, John Szarkowski expresses it best when he cautions that artists should not see themselves as “autonomous creator(s),” but, rather, “as creative celebrants of what is given."

Until recently, I have used traditional photographic methods to produce my work. However, I have recently transitioned to digital printing. While I continue to use film to capture the image, I now scan my negatives and use Photoshop to control tone and contrast. I print with archival pigment inks, and I have developed my own techniques to replicate traditional darkroom processes such as toning and tea staining.

I work primarily in black and white because it concentrates on light, form and texture, leaving context and reality to the viewer’s imagination. However, my new R5 Project was done in color to emphasize the sensation of movement.