| Much of my art is inspired by an ideology of conservation. The loss of our natural, rural, and cultural heritage has accelerated rapidly since WWII; I preserve some of it in photos. In nature, true wildness is profoundly pure, but now almost completely fragmented or degraded. Most of my images of nature, including critters, are created out in the remnants of that wildness. The aesthetic merit of heritage structures also catches my eye. The poignant charm of the design and craftsmanship of many older objects discredits today's wasteful shoddiness. My signature ("facture") is intuitive and winning composition. My multiple styles, as you can see from the samples in this shop and others, are varied as suits the moment. I seek emotion and metaphor in an image. I began some serious efforts and education in photography in my teens. I was attracted to photographing striking and often abstract shapes. After a hiatus I returned to serious photography in the past 10 years professionally, and began writing about it as well. I'm a child of the great American West, influenced artistically by its stark contrasts, sharp lines, and vivid colors. Through experience I've concluded two things about photography as art: the camera technology matters very little as compared with the eye of the artist; and, interpretation of the image in the editing process is critical. A fine art photo is, in part, defined by measured attention to every region and aspect of the image, as a painter does. |
