Artist's Statements
Landscapes
Many photographers (of my generation) can recall the defining moment when their image first appears on a blank sheet of paper floating in a tray of developer. Ensconced within the womb-like darkroom, all of one’s senses are sharpened; the pleasant gurgling of the water bath, the not so pleasant smell of fixer, the rhythmic clicking of the timer, the nurturing orange glow of the safe lights. As the image slowly comes to life, it almost seems to possess a spirit, and I remember thinking that if I could command such a thing, I should treat it with all the reverence and respect it deserved.
At the time, I was very aware of carrying on a tradition. In college, I resolved to learn from those who had felt a similar stirring from within. Edward Weston, Minor White, Harry Callahan, Frederick Sommer, Jerry Uelsmann and Aaron Siskind spoke to me of the power of nature, the mystical unknown and transcendental experience that defies description. Other influences on my nascent spirituality included Whitman, Thoreau and Zen Buddhism. I realized that Photography, as a means of expression, could reveal new meanings and new mysteries as well. Later, as I transitioned from the Black & White aesthetic to color, the lyric beauty of Eliot Porter and Ernst Haas drew me in. These formative experiences continue to influence my work today. I feel that my most successful images don’t simply portray a scene, but reveal something about our relationship with nature and the eternal essence of the subject.
Scanner Art
It's about mid life. It's about persistence. It's about the frustration of reaching for something you can't quite grasp. It's about letting go. It's about growing older. It's about moments of discovery, markers of change and understanding.
The images you see here are photographs made without a camera. Simply stated, I use a flatbed scanner as a high-resolution close-up digital camera. The process dates back at least to the late 1990's when a number of artists apparently discovered the technique quite independently. I have been scanning objects and making large format art prints on archival inkjet paper since 2005. More recently I have been printing on heavyweight, water-resistant fine art canvas.
In 2005, I was thinking about a long delayed project to photograph faded rose petals in a flattened, two-dimensional arrangement. I needed first to set up a table in my studio to photograph them with my 4x5 View Camera. The work was complicated and time consuming, so I put a lot of thought into how I would achieve what I had pictured in my mind. I knew that soft, even lighting would highlight the textures and faithfully reproduce the colors of my subject. This made me wonder what it would be like if I scanned the flowers. I spread a group of faded roses on the scanner glass and made my first scan. The result was startling--the roses became suffused with light, and the black background made the effect even more dramatic. To further enrich the image I made some careful adjustments in Adobe Photoshop to hue, saturation and contrast.
Since this humble beginning I have improved the process by carefully selecting and drying my own flowers and collecting interesting objects on my far ranging walks with our dog "Cricket.". I have recently added rusted metal and shells to my repertoire. In my current work the finished piece may have as many 20 hours of test scans, assiduous color correcting and test printing before it is completed. I am continuing to explore the creative potential of this new medium whose unique properties offer so many exciting possibilities.