Visual Ovation Photography

I am a psychologist by training.  In this work, I try to understand others' experiences of themselves and the world , I listen to their stories about their lives.  I also must be attuned to detail and symbolism:   Words, gestures, what is said, what is not said, the images that are evoked.  It is these interests in stories, in detail, in both what is seen and what is unseen that inform my photography.  It is the medium of photography that allows me to reveal myself and openly share my impressions of the world.

 

As a photographer, the bottom line is that I photograph what I am drawn to and what is meaningful to me. I view the world with the eye of a portraitist, and my ultimate goal is to reveal the character of whatever it is I am photographing, whether it be the secrets inside a flower, the transient beauty of street art, the emotion in a piece of memorial statuary, the artistry and symbolism of masks, or the history and values revealed in a piece of currency.

 

As I psychologist I understand that sometimes things are not always what they seem, and this informs  my art, as well.  My work includes traditional photographic images as well as images that are transformed either in-camera or later with digital effects.  In my most recent work, I transform my contemporary images into new portraits that do not look like photographs at all.  This new work is painterly in intent and straddles the worlds of photography and painting, as well as the worlds of the present and the past.  These portraits are not what they seem on first viewing.  I hope they evoke a sense of mystery and curiosity and invite the viewer to create their own stories about what they are seeing.

 

That all sounds so serious!  I also create images that are simple, playful and well, just beautiful.  Afer all, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.  Photography continues to teach me to see diffferently, to notice things I might never have seen before.  If I can share those visual stories that have so delighted me in a way that is compelling to someone else, then I consider myself to have been successful in my work. 

 

Traveling with Frank has allowed us to tell visual stories about the iconic and the ordinary in a variety of locations and to share moments of delight and creativity together.  It is a continuing joy and a blessing to be able to share our photographic journeys tgether.