Photography Atelier

The Light You Left Behind

When I first moved my family here more than twenty years ago, I didn’t think we’d stay for long. It was too small – a cottage really – and the garden that surrounded it wild and unruly; but the light was lovely at any time of day and, because it was too tiny to ever be taken seriously, we coated every wall with daring, delicious colors.

It’s that light and those hues that jump up and down for my attention now. The kids are gone but, when the morning glow lands gently on soft curves and delicate textures, and the sunset blazes like a torch through the window panes, it’s as if it holds up one finger to my gasp: “Just wait a moment now, and look at this! There’s still so much more to see!” These images are an exploration of that magic, of a place that still has countless stories to tell, a place called home.

The Journey is the Destination

I miss maps.

There are so many wonderful technology innovations and conveniences that I have had the pleasure of enjoying, but paper maps remain beautifully simple to me.

This series of photographs represents my desire to preserve the sense of adventure and exploration I associate with maps.  To recall what it feels like to lay the whole geography down in front of me and trace the contours of the rivers, mountains and roads instead of confining my imagination to the GPS app on my screens.

I treasure the times when families took the scenic route while the kids flashed the peace sign out the back window of the station wagon and when college students went hiking with nothing but a backpack and map in hand.

These maps are frozen to preserve a sense of adventure in the everyday, to remember that the journey is the destination and to go slow and take the detours.

Self Portrait: 4 Seasons and 360-Degrees

A black hole is not a hole.  It is an object which appears empty because unlike the objects surrounding it, no light returns to us from its surface to make it visible. Similarly, the nadir of a spherical panorama only appears empty.

Traditionally, self-portraits are made with the help of a mirror or camera to enable the artist to depict themselves as you might see them if you walked into the intimacy of their studio and stood just feet away.  In a 360-degree photograph, the artist is at a distance of zero— looking outward, rotating on a single center of perspective.

For my clients, I always patch this nadir; and in doing so essentially erase myself from the scene. However, these images were made on my own time, captured during the travel between jobs. In these stolen moments, I pulled out of traffic and made a moment for me.

Printed here in portrait orientation, my globe becomes a map: all the information remains here, flattened.

Seeking the Invisible

It’s always been with a sense of curiosity that I have looked at the structure and patterns of objects in the natural world. These patterns convey life, energy and intrinsically thoughtful purpose.

But do these structures experience time as we do? Does a fallen leaf or a solitary bird provide comfort by reinforcing our perception of reality or are we all merely structures taking form to serve a temporary purpose? I am driven to capture images that attempt to trigger these questions by removing our experience of time and letting the observer explore within for answers.

Sand Patterns at Crane beach

I frequently walk the beach and dune paths at Crane Neck on Boston’s North Shore observing the unspoiled landscapes there. My responses to these scenes are very much affected by the season, weather, time of day and the behaviors of the creatures visiting or living there.

The natural forces of waves, tides, wind and rain, have a dramatic affect on the landscapes. Even though the physical elements in the environment are somewhat randomly shaped by these forces, I find shapes and forms that evoke familiar objects and past experiences.

This work presents an image reminiscent of the experience of observation, two images of static forms found in the sand and an image representing the dynamic nature of the environment.

Festival

I’m not trying to tell a story with photos. The people in the frame tell it themselves.

I’m looking for the spark that passes between people as they live and explore with each other. Here I photograph a 3-day summer music festival, and treat it like a small, outside-the-box, city. I search for that brief moment when the chaos of life balances itself with a certain indefinable order. There’s a story in that moment.

The story is like a myth hidden below the surface. It bubbles up from beneath. We may not be sure what it’s saying, but I think the job of the photo is to get us to look and listen. What does it tell you?

Innocence Lost

Innocence Lost began as a search in a Goodwill store looking for cheap draping material for another project. Buried deep in the drapery bin in the farthest corner of the basement, I discovered the American Girl knock-off who is the subject of my current project. I was struck by the contrasts of her beautifully molded facial features and a genderless body. The physical distortions of her broken arm and disheveled hair further magnified my response. After sharing some preliminary photos, I began to appreciate the power one broken doll can hold on the imaginations of those who encounter her images.

Her name is Anemone. She believes she is a normal girl leading a normal life within a normal body. Factually, she is a discarded, broken, mass produced plastic replica of an unrealistically idealized human woman-child designed for child-play fantasy.

Her name is Anemone. She is my assistant in the exploration of what creates reality and the impact of the disruption caused through variations in the interpretation of its perception. She aids me in investigating how we experience reality by actively manifesting our perceptions. Through creating images of her, I attempt to demonstrate artistically the presence of perceptual filters that can subconsciously drive emotional responses. I hope the images of Anemone create a peculiarly compelling dissonance worthy of re-exploration beyond the first impression.

René Magritte and the Art of Illusion

These photographs are portraits of my son Adam trespassing in the world of the Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte (1898-1967).  Magritte was known for painting everyday objects portrayed in non-ordinary settings. He challenged the viewer with distorted visions that convey mystery and pose dilemma.

My goal for this project was to create images that mirror Magritte’s aesthetic style while leaving reality intact.  Unlike Magritte, my scenes are true to reality. My photographs are not digitally altered. I have attempted to convey mystery and pose dilemma not by distorting reality but by challenging the imagination of you the viewer.

Not Quite Architecture                            

These impressionist images consider photography as an alternative representation of reality and recollection.  After years of photographing buildings with careful attention to light, shadow and detail to convey a sense of reality and permanence, I’m now making photographs of buildings of another sort. Intended to express the energy of architecture they also imply a sense of impermanence and the passage of time. Are these images the antithesis of architectural photography? They are photographs of buildings but they are not quite images of architecture as we know it.