Contemporary Archeology (1997-present)
This series has been the most difficult to compile. Over the past four years
I have collected discarded objects in the city streets, continually surprised
by how much is communicated by what we try to ignore. There are contemporary
issues in what is left behind. Technically, I created a lens, which can project
two circular images on the same sheet of film. The series is on going as more
objects are gathered.
Eastern European/Portugal images (1999)
The Europe work is about searching and gathering on a larger scale. I see in
this quasi-documentary work echoes of my other series. In Eastern Europe, I
was drawn to seemingly ordinary areas and made images that had personal meaning.
The vignetting of the image is true to my way of seeing. I believe human vision
is a wide view with edges that soften at the periphery. I wanted the work to
be a complete visual impression--stylized yet honest; document and art.
Islandia Images (2000)
While making the Icelandic work I found similarities between this unique country
and the urban landscape in which I live. I am continually drawn to places and
objects, which are minimal and elemental. These fragmented parts allow me to
interpret an experience closer to my perception. Collecting the sections of
this country was challenging due to its remote quality. But once I became accustomed
to the size of Reykjavik an its out-lying areas, Iceland became a land of quiet
meditative moments. I became aware that these moments are rare and visually
unique.
The addition of text is new in my work. The Icelandic people are proud of their
land and history. It was my intention to place an Icelandic title within the
piece, constructing another element clarifying my vision and making an image
that is specifically Icelandic.
Peripheral Plate series (2003-present)
This new work was spawned by the new glut of digital/easy imagery. Anyone with
a digital camera now wants to claim status as an artist. I am still of the belief
of art as hand-built with skill and years of observation. This series specifically
set out to make images that would be one of a kind and heavily hand-made. I
have heated the exposed film till it softens and affixed it to glass plates
then even further began to rework the surface. I wanted to create physical plates
that had no virtual/new age status. These are solid creative observations.
The subject matter is the vanishing periphery of the city. The non-stop gentrifying of Baltimore kills much of what is photogenic about this city as digital kills much of what is creative about fine art photography. This work is about the heavy lifting of life.
Site-Seeing (1997-98)
This work was created with a seldom-used format, the half frame camera, which
makes exposures half the size of an ordinary 35mm camera, allowing for the easy
production of diptychs. I altered the film developer for this series which makes
the images very grainy and deep in tone. This series gathers pieces of the city
and reassembling them into new hybrids. The resulting images are personal in
meaning but they have an open-ended quality, which allows the viewer to investigate.
Present Segments (1999)
For this series, the negatives were altered with developers, bleaches and potassium
ferricyanide to achieve another level of visual control. I wanted to introduce
handwork into this series to make each image unique unto itself. I also wanted
the images to lose some of the technical preciousness that black and white images
inherently possess. Through reworking the images, I found the work expands the
photographic moment. I focused on each photograph as a piece, rather than just
a fragment of the series. Each photograph is a segment of time and of thought.
Images from Russia (2001)
Traveling through Russia, I did not know what to expect but I had preconceptions.
In my mind was a generalized view of Russia as a post-cold war/communist mundane
land. Moscow and St. Petersburg were different then I expected in many ways.
You could sense an atmosphere of change in the people. Even though memorials
and buildings dedicated to the old ways were everywhere, a new culture was being
created. Moscow was becoming increasingly more western. Moscow had an odd mix
of old and new that was visually stunning and complex.
St. Petersburg, on the other hand, seemed unchanged and honest. While Moscow was large and hurried, St. Petersburg was subdued and felt old-world European. Hard to believe this was the same country-same people. Every day was a new/visually rich experience in St. Petersburg. Whether shooting the canals that connect all of the land masses, finding military marches in Decembrist Square or a man and his bear on Nevskiy Prospekt- I was making work at a level no other place has ever afforded me.
Small Victory series (2000-2005)
This work is an ongoing collection--pieces of everything that make up my visual
existence. These parts might not be grand subject matter but they contain
the stuff of life. I am always surprised by this work. The camera which I
have designed specifically for the series is what I consider a blind camera.
I can move many lens elements to create unique effects but it is only when
the film is processed when I get to see the final outcome. The viewfinder
is only for composition.