This is personal work; this is what we do for fun. We are never very far from a camera, or a lens, or the ability with one or two clicks to purchase one- or both, for that matter. We eat, breathe, sleep and dream - photography. It is consuming, and it is a part of our soul. It truly is an obsession. Without this ability to express ourselves, would we even be able to function; would we be happy? Certainly, we would not be complete.
As I sit here, I can reach out and touch sixteen cameras; if I opened a cabinet, I could probably find sixteen more; all very unique, all functioning. The cameras here are not in a display; they are loaded with film, and ready to go. Ready to be held, ready to explore- to create, to photograph. Maybe it is this very outlet that allows us, as artists, to walk the line between reality and imagination.
I know I want to walk that line every day.
4x5 film printed on vellum using platinum alternative processing
4x5 film printed on vellum using platinum alternative processing
Landscapes
A picture is definitely worth a thousand words, and it is true that those words come for the ‘eye of the beholder’. Our experiences and our biases, or maybe just our inner voices, create the story; our version of what the image is portraying.
Is it fact or fiction … real or imaginary? Questions will often arise when viewing or describing photographs, as we, the viewers, are not permitted to see the entire scene. We are given an instant of time, and more importantly, the specific perspective that the photographer allows.
Yes pictures are worth a thousand words, and can almost never be taken at face value.
Hawaiian Windmills, Hilo, Hawaii
Hawaiian Windmills in the Distance, Hilo, Hawaii
Rivers and Streams, Griffin, GA
Hawaiian Windmills, Hawaii
Driftwood, Mendocino, CA
Oak Tree and Snow, Colfax, CA
Winter Branches, Colfax, CA
Driftwood, Mendocino, CA
Half Moon Bay Pier, Half Moon Bay, CA
Bodega Bay Pier, Bodega Bay, CA
Bamboo Details in Mendocino, CA
Zeiss Biotar 75mm 1.5
Did I mention that we were never very far from a camera, or lens? Well, here is one of my newest acquisitions, the Zeiss Biotar 75mm 1.5 lens. The Zeiss Biotar lens is famous for its gorgeous rendering of bokeh. Bokeh is the unique quality of the blur in the background, or out of focus parts of an image. It almost has a swirl around the subject, causing the bokeh to be more oblong, than round. It really puts an emphasis on the subject. I have to say, this may be my new favorite lens!
These images were taken on the Zeiss Biotar 75mm f1.5, at 1.5 on a Fuji XT2 with an X to Canon EOS to M42 mount adapters, and it only took two cookies!
Abstract Art
People have a funny way of remembering. Events are interpreted and forgotten, changed and rewritten in their minds. Although some memories create a specific response, grief or happiness, the memory itself does not cause pain. Our memories consist of events that were at one point absolute, but have quickly become relative. We no longer feel the physical pain, or joy. We question their reality, our rationale and our sanity.
The same applies to photographs. If we did not have a photographic record, a mysterious phenomenon occurs…time passes and our memories fade. Inevitably, we question these as dreams versus reality, memories versus authenticity. Sometimes all we have is a relative memory of a specific instance in time; the absolute lone faded.
Viewing the photograph sparks a memory that leads to the absolute, “the event”, whether happy, sad, exhilarating or terrifying. These events long ago filed away under “things to remember”, but ones’ however unfortunate, have disappeared from our minds grasp. Where do we look? If it were not for the photograph, these events would literally be lost forever. The photograph makes it real; the photograph takes us back in time to places we have long forgotten.
These images are based on photographing illusion. The mind’s conscious and subconscious, and how it intentionally; or better yet, unintentionally, tricks us into believing the innuendo… the play on words. Subtle and indirect, the innuendo implies the romanticized intention, with passion and persuasion, without crossing the line of actuality. Visible only in the intuitive spaces of our imagination are the expressions and phrases between these written words. Reading between the lines of suggestion and insinuation, we become lost between implication and reality, desire and truth.
My goal, to create a photographic version of a memory, one very personal, resurrecting the emotion and passion before, it too becomes just a faded piece of reality … hidden in a dream. The path and inspiration, carefully chosen, invites the viewer into a secret space and time … of my mind, and my memory … moving quietly through the cherished and intimate scene.
The Empty Page
A vast wasteland,
But, lay a word gently down on it …
The once innocent paper
Becomes a playground for the mind
The words thrusting itself into the, ‘till now, unseen
Folds and fissures of the virginal page.
Something sensual, ripe and swollen with meaning
The moist pink and purple ink … glistening …
As the passionate spaces speak to you of forbidden fantasies.
The words … their literal meaning unimportant
Provide lines and markings
Curves and creases
To read between
Like the seeds of a careless lover
Left behind as a reminder
In the restless mind of the reader,
What casual comment will give birth to far reaching consequences?
What harmless word will be turned like a pillow in the steamy night …
Into a new shape to lay your head on …
And dream of misinterpreted writers?
And the dreams
Come faster and harder …
Harder … and … faster
Until they explode in a symphony of sound and breath and light
And as the drenched, spent words cover your naked thoughts
You sleep the sleep that only the truly satisfied can know.
