Human Nature, 2017-present
Iron Gate Reservoir, 11-10-23.
Arcata and Humboldt Bay, 2005-2016
Alongside the Road, 2005-Current
Along side the Road, 2005-2016
Alongside the Road is a collection of spontaneous photographs documenting time and place of sites along various roadways. They’re often the places between destinations. One’s journey often provides the best opportunity to see something unexpected, to be reminded of the fragility of life, to experience an expression left by others, or to just revel in being on the road again.
This series began in 2005 with a Canon EOS 1D Mark II. It was a breakthrough SLR camera at 8 megapixels – enough resolution for a magazine spread. Prior to this, I would have needed the 4×5 scanning camera tethered to a computer and at least an hour of free time. It was quite liberating to be mobile and untethered from the computer.
Since then, the novelty of mobile digital photography has super-bloomed. Today, most travelers with their phones simply snap countless photographs and post to Instagram or share with family without much sweat. Photography has gotten easy – everyone’s doing it.
Landmarks, 2002-2007
Landmarks, 2002-2007
To really see a photograph, one will see more than the literal word in which we describe light, object, and color. When seeing digs deeper, a photograph gains meaning beyond these things and perhaps from this we’re moved to feel something, appreciate, inspire, maybe even question, or wonder. It’s not all about beauty and the pursuit of perfect form. This is true with any art.
But if not for beauty to hang on a wall, then for what? A good answer for me has always been, “for the experience.” I’m a curious person and the point is to wander and wonder and discover something outside the ordinary. A closer look through photography is a greta way to learn about the world we see.
At the time of these photographs, photography was a harder process than it is today but it was the midst of the digital revolution and despite the time consuming nature of learning things anew the challenge was exciting.
Each of these images required many hours of work. They were made with a 4×5 Linhof view camera and Betterlight Scanback tethered to an Apple laptop computer with Photoshop. Except for the Linhof and I, it was all “state of the art” for digital photo technology. At fifty pounds of gear and a handful of chances per lead acid battery nothing was ever a snapshot.
Every photo mattered and much care went into their making. This often meant waiting for the right light, enough light, or for the wind to settle down. Exposures could be ten minutes long or more. Unlike ordinary cameras, scanning camera exposes line by line, motion blur is undesirable.
For each of these places and for most of these photos I lingered for hours. Far too much falls outside the frame. If in addition to the words and marks, if one imagines the smell of desert sage after a summer rain, the sound of silence or the sweet song of a canyon wren, the touch of hot sand, an overhead jet, the rough texture of granite and volcanic rock I say thank you. Thank you for completing the picture. These are the things that help connect and communicate the culture of place.
Dry Earth, 1990-1993
Dry Earth (1990-1993)
These images are from my younger self, a medium format camera, and traditional darkroom methods commonly practiced prior to the “digital revolution.” My roots are seen here.
At the time of producing this work my primary exploration focused on the landscape and how it has changed and is being changed by human activity. At the time, I felt the landscape could not be photographed in an imagined pristine state and remain “truthful” to modern time. Back then, I wondered if nature wasn’t as dead as a diorama at the California Academy of Sciences or as alive as a rockfish at the Monteray Bay Aquarium.
All photographs are silver gelatin original prints.