Biography
Photography has always been and is a personal solitary journey for myself. It is a journey of self achievement trying to aspire to the creative goals I have set for myself. Those goals could never be set by anyone else. I am the strongest critic of my work and it is the only criticism that inspires me to change. Photography is the only therapy that makes sense to me.
The Group f/64 Movement had a huge influence on me which immediately prompted my interest in photography particularly black and white photography. The so-called straight photo can still be a portrayal of complex psychological ideas and the interpretation of the photo can change constantly depending on your own state of consciousness at the time. The straight photo could be a blend of the Surrealist's desire to blend fantasy, dreams into the conscious reality or the Dada desire to crush conventional concepts of reality. The ordinary can be extremely complex. The critics attacks on Edward Weston and his Pepper series could not see the different textures and shapes and how they can become a very distinct vision of a new reality every time the prints are revisited. Behind the texture and curves lies a reality anyone can visit with there own perspective to make their dream and fantasies come alive. That imaginative spark that causes one to pause and take the picture should always be examined and revisited because the creative reason made to take the picture could lead one to discover even more creative paths. Personal re-examination I think is essential to creative improvement in photography.
Reacting to the emotional urge of what you are seeing will usually result in what people called the postcard shot but that shot is valuable if you constantly re-examine the print. You will discover what you missed or what you could have added to the postcard shot and expand that awareness to your creative arsenal and see leaps and bounds improvement in your photography. No image you take is a throwaway image. Every image in some way defines who you are and if that definition is not clear you will know immediately and then you should try to discover what can be done to clarify that approach to taking the image. That is the magic of photography. It is a personal train of evolution that you can jump on and jump off anytime you want.
