ARTIST statement

I have come to realize that my photography is a celebration of the land and sea- seen not only through the lens but through my own subjective moment-to-moment emotional state and experience. The art of landscape photography allows me to enter a world of beauty and to experience the spirit of the land. I photograph to communicate such spirit. I can suggest that it is possible, more to the point-centering- to photograph, experience, and momentarily transcend the effects of illness and the drumbeat of threats to the globe through image making. I have lived in the eye of the storm most of my life. Now I am hoping to discover a path to be mindful of the present moment for all its instructive richness. I feel a growing need to create calming images that may evoke internal stillness and concentration. When we cultivate a stillness of resolve, meaning peaceful stillness with the strength of resolve -we can gain clarity.

It is my hope that you the viewer may experience the spirit of the land in these images.

I work with scenes amidst the seasonal landscapes and seascapes of Cape Cod, MA. I use various techniques of long exposures and intentional camera movement., while maintaining structure in the movement. But most important is noticing my mood when entering a scene, the mood of the scene, and how that emerging relationship affects my own experience and thereby the composition of the photo. Sometimes experiencing the beauty of a scene is overwhelming, just to be privileged to witness the spirit of the land. Sometimes the experience is truthful, like a mirror, thrust to see my own angst, and in the witnessing, comes a sense of understanding and solidarity, not necessarily resolution. The sea of Cape Cod is constantly changing in its mood, sometimes serene, sometimes powerful as it tumbles onto the shore. And like the forest, the sea is intimately affected by climate, seasons and human intervention. This serves as a mirror to my own internal landscape and a reminder that we are not just connected to the land, we are one.

Conceptually I am influenced by abstract and expressive landscape photographers who share a commitment to photography as an art, conservation of the land and sea, and treasure the diversity of its people. The legacy of influence harkens back to the inspiring early work of Ansel Adams, Robert Adams, Minor White, Ed Weston, Gordon Parks and Dorothea Lange, the latter two showed the human face of the land. I am influenced by concepts of impermanence as an approach to loosen my grasp on all things; and thereby see a path more clearly toward generosity, kindness and compassion.