Artist Statement

I am a photographer who uses both film and, 0’s and 1’s, to catch the moment. I consider myself a fine art photographer, but am really a photo mercenary.

I use whatever tool is out there to present the image. It could be a print straight from the negative. It could be a scanned negative re-worked in Photoshop. It could be a digital image, edited and cropped in Photoshop, adhered to canvas and paint applied over and around it. So, I am not a strict photographer as in the tradition of Edward Steichen, Henri Cartier-Bresson or Edward Weston.

The camera and resulting image are tools, part of the process.

I wouldn’t call myself a photojournalist, though at times I’ve shot as an archivist with a photo journalistic angle. I wouldn’t call myself a street photographer, but much of the time my camera is by my side shooting whatever catches my eye. I wouldn’t call myself a portrait photographer, although I have basked in the joy of shooting someone in a more formal setting, or catching them at “that” moment when least expected.

When I first started shooting in 1968, I only shot black and white. Except for archival slides of Native American quill and beadwork and family shots, it was all black and white. Up until 2000, film was my primary image source. For some reason, in my mind, I felt that black and white prints were fine art and color were snap shots.

By the late 90’s with the emergence of the digital camera, I started shooting more fine art photography in color. Now I shoot almost exclusively digital. But depending on the content and composition, I may keep the image in color or convert to black and white.

I have to continually check myself regarding the “rules” and how the paradigm changes regarding shooting digital over film, converting color to black and white, and printing electronically rather then silver prints. It is a continuous self re-evaluation.