Photography Atelier

STICKS & STONES
I have always been a collector of stones. Every room in my home has at least one basket of smooth stones from the ocean where waves have worn away the rough edges. I once took a geology class and quickly discovered that I am not very interested in the origins of stones. I collect stones because they make me feel at peace.

I thought about photographing these stones for years. Then recently I went out to my yard to clean up the odds and ends that winter left behind, and I saved a few sticks with interesting shapes. On walks around my neighborhood, I picked up more sticks that looked like good companions for my stones. Now I am a collector of sticks and stones.

I have spent many hours arranging (playing with) sticks, stones, torn paper, and colored strings. What I love about creating these photographs is the simplicity and the endless possibilities.

Terra Incognita, Intimate landscapes
Sometimes I find it’s just a matter of taking a moment to pause – to open my ears, to open my eyes. In doing so new insights can be revealed and new worlds are sometimes discovered. What was right before me all along suddenly comes into focus.

The title for this series of photographs stems from the designation that early European cartographers gave to those regions of the world that were known to exist, but which had not yet been explored. Such areas were labeled Terra Incognita – unknown land. The Earth has now been mapped many times over, but there remain seemingly wild and unexplored lands all around us that are frequently passed by unnoticed. This project documents my visits to some of these places.

I am fascinated by the way in which these images can, at the same moment, feel both very familiar and utterly foreign. I look at them and lose my sense of scale and time. There’s a quality of place that I can imagine inhabiting and yet I’m not sure where I am.

As I consider the images further I begin to reflect on my conceptions of the landscape and the interrelationship between the physical and biological forces that shape it. I wonder what it is that establishes within me a sense of place and contemplate the connections between my memories of the land and the images I make of it.

In reality, all the places in these unmanipulated photographs exist on the surfaces of trees. And while my body cannot physically explore them, the photographs provide fertile ground for my imagination — drawing me in and evoking stories as I explore this new terrain in my mind’s eye.
It is my hope that these photographs set an evocative scene for others as well, thereby allowing each person to create their own personal encounters within these intimate landscapes.

As the world of nature cedes to the world of development, the landscapes I photograph become the urban landscape. Urban Landscape Photography is more about the city itself than the people in it. It speaks about the way we live – it’s about people’s impact on the environment, rather than the people themselves.

These photographs highlight interactions between the natural and human-built environments. The urban environment often constrains nature within incongruous constructs that have nothing to do with it, or that actively conflict with nature.

My photography is more interested in what happens in and around a building and how it interacts with the world than the architecture of the building itself. My images capture visual diversity and juxtapositions in order to give a different perspective on a space and to invite us to look at it deeply. I take mundane places and show how extraordinary they can be.

When Animals Meet
For most of us wild animals are part of the natural world where we no longer dwell. They are curiosities that we visit.

This series explores what happens to them and to us when we meet in the few arenas open to us today. From Franklin Park Zoo to the Mystic Aquarium and to the Galapagos, I photograph moments when I see engagement, meetings when the animals are as curious and aware as the humans. Maybe even more important are those occasions when both parties mirror each other, reminding us that we are not so different after all.

Abstract Elements
I grew up in Northern New England and as the saying goes; you are where you come from. I was surrounded with incredible natural land and organic formations and I have always been drawn to how design elements are manifested in nature and how they relate to, and enhance one another to express my personal vision.

My current work illustrates a natural evolution and interpretation of these elements, which has led me to a new perspective resulting in increased abstraction, or a nonliteral representation of subject matter. This abstraction is intended to lead the viewer to grasp the implied essence of the image, thereby making the interpretation an individual and personal experience.

Horses, Top Hats and Old Hollywood
Dressage is an ancient equestrian art developed to ensure that horses going into battle were obedient and responsive to the rider. Later it became a little-known Olympic sport (and still is). This portfolio of images presents the power, grace and elegance of dressage along with a twist of “Old Hollywood” flavor.

While photographs of the horse and rider in the ring during elite competition abound, my esthetic is more of a visual storytelling approach. I present the behind-the-scenes view such as riding to the competition in the early morning light, the coach and rider working together, the riders and horses warming up and the “rail hangers” watching it all. Climb into the frame, walk around and get a sense of the excitement, intensity and glamour of elite international dressage competition.

Left Over
In the kitchen, when I am preparing a meal, things can be hectic. It often seems that a whirlwind is tearing through, pushing everything in its path. There is no time, as the cook, to stop for photography. But after the meal has been eaten, after the guests have gone home and the children are in bed, the kitchen is quiet. Now there is time – to reflect, to focus on the small details left behind by the storm of the day.

Cooking for me always has a beginning, a middle and an end and it is also part of a continuing cycle: every day there are new meals to be planned, prepared and eaten. For many people, the most interesting part of the meal is the eating. For me, sometimes what happens after we eat is just as appealing.

I spend a lot of the time in the kitchen, not all of which is spent cooking. There is the preparation: the washing, the cutting, and the reading of recipes. Sometimes, there is tasting, and always, there is cleaning. When I am preparing a meal, I am focused on the steps I am taking, what comes next; once the meal has ended, my mind can relax and drift. Images catch my eye as I meditate over the meal’s remains.