May 31, 2008
In 1978 I started playing around with the old cameras I had found in a cabinet in my dorm room in college. A friend and I captured this image while walking around Fairfield, Iowa, with my old plastic Ansco Anscoflex twin lens reflex camera, the one with the large dish flash attachment that took real flash bulbs, a box of which I found in the local used junk shop. I really enjoyed that simple camera, but alas, they don’t manufacture film for it anymore – it took 620 roll film. This is how the image (two similar photographs, actually) appears in my picture album from that era.
I am reminded of the Russian-made Holga or the Japanese-made Diana, both of them plastic, 120 format cult cameras. I just saw a new version of the Diana for sale in Urban Outfitters. The Ansco Anscoflex was my answer to the Diana.
May 25, 2008
I am preparing several photographs for an upcoming exhibit in Frederick, Maryland. I have been inspired to go beyond the pictures themselves and create works of art that, while centered on the photographs, provide a context for the images as well.
Schism II (shown below) incorporates the photograph, Schism, but includes a handcrafted weathered oak crucifix as a base for the photo, and a wreath of vines (crown of thorns?) as a frame for the image, adding layers of meaning not available from the photograph standing alone.
Welcome to Nirvana (shown below) uses the photo of the same name as its basis, but the photo floats within the open space of a Japanese Torii gate, which I constructed using weathered oak, as its context. It is as if the traveler (the small figure in the lower right corner) has just passed through the Torii gate to come face to face with the object of his longing. Also, I used a subtly colorized version of Welcome to Nirvana to create this piece.
To see a clearer image of the underlying photographs, visit the Focus on Religion gallery at www.wmgphoto.com and click on the thumbnail images.
May 13, 2008
I am hopeful that my photographs strike an emotional chord thereby enabling the viewer, if just for a moment, to step out of his or her limited sense of self. I was reminded of this phenomenon this past weekend.
A friend and I have just returned from our annual pilgrimage to the Bach festival in Bethlehem, PA. Discussing the generally recognized sacred nature of Bach’s music and our own individual thoughts and experiences in listening to the live performances, the following idea arose: Read the rest…
