Jun 20, 2020 |
Black Lives Matter Rally, Town Field Park Dorchester MA Black Lives Matter march from Dudley Square to the Massachusetts State House The streets of Boston, and all of America, are filled with the surreal sights of people wearing masks to ward off a pandemic and the high tension of racial injustice so often resurfacing in our complex history as a nation. The tensions are especially high in the Trump era. A president that seems to bask in the glory of division. Set off by the police killing of George Floyd, the murder was captured on film by a 17 year old girl, 8 minutes and 46 seconds of brutality. A ritual of prayer and song at the Harriet Tubman statue and park in Boston. My biggest hope are the young activists like this, leading the march forward to a new America that embraces everyone of color and diversity. This portfolio is an ongoing project of the Black Lives Matter movement based in...
May 12, 2020 |
Nationality understands borders but culture does not. A nation’s border is a fine line defined by walls, fences and checkpoints. The border between cultures is wide. They commingle appearing in art, murals, food, language and dreams. In the last few years I have visited the U.S./Mexican border 4 times focusing on Nogales Arizona and Nogales Sonora working with various non-profit organizations that aid migrants and foster cultural exchange and goodwill across the border. In addition I have visited the borderlands of Texas and Tijuana and plan on future trips to the...
May 11, 2020 |
Along the U.S. border guns are more conspicuous and the wall is festooned with barbed wire making it look like a prison. Meanwhile the border fence of Mexico is adorned with art, crosses and memorials for those lost. There is an almost desperate need for tourism and help. I photograph in black and white using film. Certain imagery lends itself to black and white and while there are vibrant colors and emotions throughout the borderlands there is also a timelessness that speaks to history repeating itself. Photographing in film allows me to be more present and paradoxically pre-visualize what may come with a mindset of how it will be viewed in future...
May 9, 2020 |
I first started photographing in Harvard Square during the turn of the millennium as I found the combination of street life, store fronts and street performers to be a perfect setting for my camera. In those early days I would haul around my Mamiya RB 67 medium format in addition to my 35mm camera. One of my favorite subjects was the bride performed by Amanda Palmer. At the time Amanda was unknown but her distant look which then turned into a direct eye-contact encounter made for beautiful pictures. This picture, much more recent, caught the Out of Town News just before it closed. A sad vestige of the print publication which is going away in favor of online media feeds. One less real-world space to wander. John W. Weeks Bridge, just outside Harvard Square, crosses over the Charles River and into Boston at...
May 8, 2020 |
In the summer of 2019 I spent a few days photographing Coney Island. As usual I photographed digitally in color and with black & white film. The immediacy of digital is a necessity today, however the process of film appeals more to my artistic sensibility. Initially I was disappointed at the result but once I viewed my negatives I realized that somehow all the good pictures had found there way there. Part of the fun in shooting in film is that you don’t know what you got. It isn’t until weeks later that you have a sense of accomplishment or often times disappointment. But it is the sense of surprise and anticipation that makes me do it. And the fact that there is no turning back, especially shooting in black and white. Because so many other photographers had photographed here, I was drawn to come. Maybe that collective memory made these pictures...
May 1, 2020 |
The Constant Carnival series of pictures came about from my desire to photograph people in search of escape. At that time I was reading Les Miserables by Victor Hugo and came across the quote, “Everything being a constant carnival, there is no carnival left.” I thought what a wonderful name for a series of pictures. I created a self-published zine of the same name. From carnivals I moved to parades, getting behind the scenes looks at parade watchers and paraders dressing up. All again a search for escape. What I found interesting is that life itself, especially politically, is a carnival. But unfortunately the carnival of life is taken too seriously. The more I looked at escapism the more I realized people were escaping from escaping itself. The ultimate escape being the ubiquitous smart phone. Fortunately some still appear to be in the...
