Taking Pictures
Art is a form of communication to me, visual literature. I am trying to say something which goes beyond words. When I connect with you through my art, you will know what I am trying to convey, you will feel it. We may exchange some words to try to express ourselves, but, if I have been successful, words will not be enough. I believe what we yearn for, what we desire, what we love is Beauty. In music, in poetry, in weddings, in relationships. I love beauty; deep, rich, inexpressible beauty.
My dad always had a camera with him when we traveled, and we traveled a lot. He loved taking scenic pictures, vistas, beautiful nature scenes. When he gave me his Kodak Instamatic I looked through the viewfinder and saw a whole other world. From the earliest pictures I took I was trying to remove as much context as possible. I wanted to focus in on shapes and patterns, textures, color, and light.
It starts with the light. The light has to be just right. Then I need something that the light is hitting in what strikes me as a beautiful way. It has to be something that has a richness, a complexity to it. Water is my favorite subject and seems to manifest beauty in infinite ways with infinite variations. I've also photographed a lot of train cars and bridges, they both have many mysterious and incomprehensible parts with interesting colors and textures.
There seem to be two basic reactions to my work; one is, "What is that a picture of?" The other is, "[audible sigh] Wow." Many people first look to see what it is; they are following our habit of categorizing and putting whatever we encounter into boxes. I try to make art that leaves you without your normal frames of reference, allowing you to simply be in the moment of awe, in the moment of beauty.