Recent Work:
Pacific Union College Art Department Faculty Exhibition
February 16 through March 17, 2002
I only use large-format cameras.
I only photograph natural subjects.
I will never use a point-and-shoot camera.
I only use black and white film.
I will never use color film.
In Fall of 2000 I began study and research on my thesis project toward an MFA in Graphic Design from the Academy of Art College in San Francisco. As part of the research, I have been making images with a pocket “point-and-shoot” 35mm camera. The intent is to create a visual catalog of ideas, inspirations, and influences—and to document anything of visual interest which presents itself.
The result is a new set of images that follow a very different path than my previous photographs. With a few isolated exceptions, my photography has always been with black and white film in a medium or large-format camera (big negatives are always better), and prints were made in a darkroom with traditional processes. The assignment of always carrying an easy-to-use pocket camera has opened new possibilities—without this impetus I never would have made these photographs a year and a half ago.
The images were made in a small area in the SOMA district of San Francisco—primarily between the parking lot where I leave my car and the building where I attend class.
I’m having fun with it.
Recent Work:
Pacific Union College Art Department Faculty Exhibition
November 6 through December 12, 1999
The images are part of an ongoing personal project of photographing details in the landscape. They were made in two places, 1000 miles apart, which at first glance seem quite opposite in character yet share remarkable similarities.
The Salt Point images were made at an intimate, magical stretch of rock at the ocean's edge. The quiet roar of the waves surrounds and calms. The constant influence of water on this place is all-encompassing. Yet within a few feet, the landscape can appear as if there were no water for miles.
At Moab, the landscape is vast, yet surprisingly intimate and isolated. Water is a scarce essential. The extreme environment demands even the most basic trip be carefully planned. One is continually aware of the absence of water. But like Salt Point, the influence of water is also constant. Afternoon thunderstorms can soak the environment in a few moments. Sudden evidence of water's passage and past presence is everywhere-rapidly evaporating pools from the previous day's storm, sculpted patterns of sediment on the rock, mineral stains.
The photographs were made with a cheap, plastic camera. Its character interjects random elements into the image because of the erratic focus, inconsistent focus plane, uneven exposure, and lack of conventional aperture or shutter speed controls.
Portfolio: Mud series
These photographs are part of a personal project, made while walking the dog around the airport here on campus. The photographs were made with a cheap, plastic Holga camera very different from the view camera I usually make photographs with. The characteristics of this camera allowed me to approach the subject, the use of the camera, and the subsequent printmaking in a much different way than I usually work.
Portfolio: Shirt series
These photographs are the result of a home/personal assignment from a workshop I attended in February of 1995. The workshop, The Gift of the Commonplace, taught by Ruth Bernhard and John Sexton, emphasized seeing the commonplace with fresh vision and from a new perspective. The subject of this assignment is my favorite shirt.
Portfolio: Aspen, Colorado
These photographs were made while participating in the workshop Advanced Techniques: Exploring the Black and White Print taught by John Sexton, in 1994 and 1995. The workshop is held at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass, Colorado.
