Artist's Statement

One observes something that may make an interesting photograph.  It may be the color or quality of light, a shape or pattern, the poetic nature or iconology of an object or a space itself.  Perhaps it is how the final image will relate to a larger body of work.  Whatever the reason, something has caught one’s eye.  The attraction may be quite obvious and simply finding the right place to put the camera and waiting for the light is all that is necessary.  In other cases it may require persistent, critical observation to be revealed.  Regardless, it is during this act of observation that one employs intellect, intuition, experience, wonder, wit and autobiography to inform the work…. to find order amid chaos.

My work could best be described as traditional, straightforward, personal documentation.  I continue to be fascinated by the magnificence of light and how it affects the complex shapes and colors of our human-made and natural world.  I present my subject objectively but not dispassionately.  I photograph with a 4x5 view camera and most of my current work is in color.  I do not limit myself to that format but enjoy the control, the slower pace, and more contemplative process when working with a view camera. I shoot film, scan it, manage the image digitally and print with a wide format inkjet printer.  My approach to image manipulation and digital editing is that it remains transparent.  I use these tools to strengthen my vision and clarify my statement.

Initially, my interest in a potential subject is more visceral and I follow my instincts to a conclusion.  Some reoccurring motifs explored in my photography are metaphor, time, memory and human nature.  Subjects I choose to photograph in that exploration are common, rural and urban spaces, signage, vernacular architecture, and the relationships that exist between the subjects and the environments in which those subjects are found.  With few exceptions, and for very practical reasons, most of my work is created close to home in the Midwest.  This selection of images partially represents an ongoing project that is photographed exclusively in Missouri.  However, the subjects I choose to illustrate my exploration with are not necessarily unique to any one geographic area but are the elemental subjects of human interest one may discover anywhere.  They are ubiquitous.  They are banal.  They are easily overlooked.  Still, when photographed these quiet landscapes, odd places, familiar cities and towns resonate with values one may find at once recognizable and yet enigmatic.

With perceptive observation and imagination, successful photographs become more than just evidence of what was in front of the camera.  Upon viewing such a photograph, the whole endeavor becomes about one questioning the resulting images for meanings or associations that may or may not have been the original intention of the creators of such photographs, but have manifested themselves over time.  Once finally realized, the ensuing internal dialogue with an image is conditioned by historical context, information within and supporting data about the image. Through the universal language of photography and the poetry of visual organization such compelling images transcend literal representation and become more about implication, nuance, metaphor, personal experience, and unrecorded history.  For the most part I would not expect nor want an image to mean the same to any two people except in the broadest terms.  It is that very individuality, influenced by social and cultural backgrounds, which shape and define one’s perception of a photograph, gives it life and allows it to become one’s own.

Undeniably I am first attracted to these places and things because of their visual appeal or narrative possibilities.  I am also drawn to some of these things because their original intention has long since been forgotten and their initial value and the lives they touched now appear meaningless.  But through contemplation and imagination new meanings may reveal themselves.  It is this act of observation, looking with an open mind, which may touch something inside oneself and begin a new understanding.

For some time now I have found photographs without people dominating the composition seem to hold my interest longer.  Perhaps I find such images more abstract and open to conjecture.  Such images may allow one to more freely associate one’s personal experiences, memories and interpretations when individuals do not already occupy the image.  The predominance of people and all they represent may influence, limit or bias one’s response to a photograph both emotionally and intellectually.  That being said, a person in a photograph will not make it a bad thing or a good thing – just a different thing. I seek to convey the notion of human presence through the absence of humans being present.  I use the evidence of human occupation that is left behind to suggest human presence and the nature of it – good, bad or indifferent… past, present or future.

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