About my work

My photography and video projects vary in concept and subject matter, and each project takes its own path, shape and duration. The pleasure in these discoveries is ultimately what inspires my work.

The photographs on this site are exhibited as archival pigment prints or gelatin silver prints, with dimensions varying from 8x10" to 40x60". The images are close to in-camera capture and have minimal post processing applied to them, mainly for tonal and color adjustments. 

For info about my video projects, click here.

 

Archival pigment prints, dimensions variable 30x40" and 24x36" and 40x60" - edition of 12

From its inception, photography has had an ongoing dialogue with painting, and the two have shaped one another in notable ways. For the ongoing series Illuminated I have been visiting painting collections at various museums and seeing these works as they appear through a camera. Glare on reflective surfaces is usually an annoyance for photographers, but in this series instead of avoiding or minimizing glare I embrace it. Photographed at just the right angle, the same gallery lights that normally illuminate a painting create bright areas on the surface of the canvas and obliterate parts of the image, usually the figure(s). A new image is formed through this iconoclastic gesture, one that is often ghostly but grounded in the materiality of canvas, pigment, varnish and the patina of time. No flash or additional lighting is used in this work. 

 

Catalina

Archival pigment prints, dimensions variable, 24x36" and 12x18" - edition of 12

These found photographs of real estate listings on Catalina Island, which I re-photographed and enlarged, have deteriorated over time through sun exposure, resulting in the emulsion's cracked, peeling texture. The darker parts of the image have more silver in the emulsion and are more stable, but the sun has fried and altered the brighter parts at a faster rate. We normally associate light with being generative, but it also can be destructive. While light was necessary in creating these images, it is also responsible for their transformation and gradual destruction.

 

In Passing

Archival pigment prints, dimensions variable, 30x40" and 11x14" - edition of 12

Changes on a pathway at a school I teach at over the course of a semester.

 

Aqueous

Archival pigment prints, dimensions variable, 30x40" and 11x14" - edition of 12

Straight photography mediated through water on the lens.

 

Water

Archival pigment prints, dimensions variable, 24x36 and 40x60" - edition of 12

Traces of water as mineral residue drips and snow on the surface of water towers

 

Surface Event

Archival pigment prints and gelatin silver prints, dimensions variable from 13x19" to 24x36" to 40x60" - edition of 12

This ongoing series is devoted to discovering depth in flat surfaces. Whether it is the surface of other images, the surface of glass or that of a wall, cultural artifacts, light and shadow  interact to produce new meanings and challenge the viewer's perception of what is real, what is reflected and what is shadow.

 

Powerlines I II

Archival pigment prints, 24x36" edition of 12

Powerlines I & Powerlines II explore the near ubiquity of the overhead cables in everyday environments. The poles and accompanying cables are in transition, slowly being phased out as cities bury the lines underground. But what is most interesting about these gangly monstrosities within our landscapes is the fact that they disappear from our consciousness, becoming invisible by their prevalence.

In each photograph one or more power lines bisect the frame into equal halves, presenting a series of "readymade" diptychs. The images are minimal yet can be disorienting, imploring viewers to consider their own awareness of the everyday power line. With the content addressing perhaps the most pressing issue of our time - energy production, distribution and consumption - the cleaving of each image into two distinct halves raises questions pertaining to boundary lines, the partitioning of land and sky, and the division of resources. The energy passing through everyday power lines enables people, unites and also divides people. The bisecting line in each photograph likewise unifies and divides, creating three images in one: the left, the right and the whole.

 

American

Archival pigment prints, dimensions variable, 13x19", 24x36" and 40x60" - edition of 12

An ongoing project exploring Americana

 

Athanasia

Archival pigment prints, 13x19" edition of 12

A genus of flowering plants in the daisy family, athanasia also refers to deathlessness and immortality. The artificial flowers in this series try to defy the ephemerality of their organic counterparts, but it's only a matter of time before they decompose as surely as the deceased they honor.

 

Kiwi Mountains

Archival pigment prints, dimensions variable, 13x19", 24x36" and 40x60" edition of 12

Pristine mountains of New Zealand's South Island

 

Transfer

Archival pigment print, 47x35" edition of 12

A grid of 225 images from the point of view of a plugged in commuter