I’ve been attracted to photography and strong photographs for as long as I can remember. There’s an element in them that speaks deeply to me. I’m not even sure I can find words to adequately describe it so let’s just say I love photography and it’s a large part of my everyday life. It provides joy, motivation, excitement reward, satisfaction etc…

My serious commitment to fine art photography and making my own strong pictures began quite a few years ago with a workshop I attended in Maine with Cig Harvey. This workshop was titled “The Photographer’s Eye” and was all about seeing. I think I spent about a year arriving at the decision on the workshop and instructor that I felt would provide the most benefit for me. My decision was perfect and what I learned that week serves as a solid foundation for my photography and the work I do.

The photograph shown here is titled “First Day” and is the representative picture from that week and my foundation in photography. The first assignment for the week on the first morning was to shoot a roll of film (36 exposures) in our rooms before going out of the room. That’s right, 35mm film and no screen on the back of the camera. A huge challenge for the novice that I was at the time. I pushed forward and completed the assignment. The photograph you see here came from that roll of film and still holds deep meaning for me.

I’m incredibly honored to have one of my photographs selected for inclusion in the current issue of Shots Magazine. The theme for issue No. 142 Winter 2019 is Fading Light. I’m a huge fan of Shots Magazine. They consistently publish outstanding photography. If you’ve not experienced it, I would encourage you to check it out.

We are surrounded and at times drowning in imagery these days. The Internet, Social Media and camera phones are generating boundless volumes of photographs. Theses photographs largely represent today’s society and how many communicate. Throughout history photographs and imagery have always been used as a communication vehicle. The “cover image” or the first image we see that represents a book, movie product, etc is the one that the sellers hope will grab our attention and draw us in. The “cover image” must communicate the full essence of the content and must do it in a powerful way. The attention span of today’s on line instant gratification society is extremely short. If the “cover image” fails to grab ones attention that product is of no interest to that individual and the likelihood that they will return to it is very close to none. I’ve never set out to make a “cover image”, however I do feel that I have a few. Very few relative to the huge volume of photographs I’ve made over the years. Identifying these “cover images” in your own work takes a very disciplined approach with extremely high standards. I am, without a doubt my harshest critic. 

Release Me

Without Words

Abstract Effect

Hold on to Yourself