As an artist I do not believe it’s about the process. The process is a tool that should help me have a voice. If the process is all I have than there is very little to say and I am just a craftsman making pretty images. There is a place for that, just not one I cannot stay in for very long or I start to go mad. My work must have meaning other than light, time, and chemicals. 

So this summer was rough for my work. It got so hot here that it really was not realistic to shoot much of anything wet plate so I stopped. The next couple of months were focused on speaking and promoting my work, shows and events. I made a choice to give into my frustration with the process and my lack of resources to control it and being out of shape and many other things. I thought my focus change was ok, and I would get back to it when it cools down. However that did not really happen. We had an extended summer heat and no new work was being made. I was depressed, but god things were happening. There was no other reason to be unhappy. But I could really not take the action to mover forward and make new work.

Turns out this was a problem. I even ordered new chemicals and set up still life for a new series. It sat there.

So this is where this new work sets in. A model I am excited about was coming into town. We set up an arraignment and I was forced to “shit or get off the pot” as they say. The end results were that I did some tests on an idea I have been playing with for a long time. The results were really to me, in retrospect, an explosion of color. It was as if color had been imprisoned inside of me for two years and now had been let free from it’s cage. What I post here are Fujiroids as they called it in college (Fujifilm Polaroid). They are experimentation tests before I shoot large format film of similar subjects. 4x5 and 8x10 film will be far sharper and more detailed and the compositions will be more thoughtful.

It’s a start. I feel much better after shooting just a couple of hours. I hope to have some finished sets soon to show.

Images I used for the projection are royalty free from NASA. Now do your research about usage. I did and should be ok unless they decide it’s a problem to have a woman as the universe or representing life and or that we are our own universe. The theme stems from that in our history before Christianity and Greece many parts of the world worshiped woman. Before we knew how babies were formed. They were the giver of life. The center of the universe for many.

Enjoy. Stay tuned …

Here are some set shots and film I am going to use.  The camera is about 100yrs old and the center of my world in all he work I do.

It’s important to understand I am not saying I am better than others, however I hold myself as best I can to a standard that is usually too high for even me. That in that all my flaws come to the front and my failures open to everyone. That it’s ok, I embrace this as my way of expression in the fight between me, my conscious self and subconscious ego. However to hold no standard at all is an insanity I cannot live with. That in making an image it’s just a snapshot and expecting it to be called art is a crime. That one should have a narrative and shoot with passion. Like playing a piece of music with perfect timing but without any style or human touch. No connection. It’s just a shallow performance. Some will eat it up either way, but we want them all to experience the piece at it’s best.