Apr 17, 2020 |
From the beginning I’ve photographed in black & white film. One of my first projects was photographing just outside the Boston Public Library. It was an arbitrary self-assignment but I ended up having a solo exhibition at the library shortly after. I then took the camera on the road with me visiting every state in America. Then after switching to digital photography and becoming an event photographer I returned to shooting with black & white film years...
Mar 18, 2020 |
The American road trip is the quintessential photographer’s experience. It probably dates back to the depression-era photographers of the FSA such as Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans and others. Then followed by Robert Frank. My personal experiences started with my honeymoon when we decided to travel 8,000 miles traveling along Route 2 to Montana and then South to Big Bend National Park and back to Boston from there. One giant loop. That initial trip has been followed by dozens of others so that eventually every state was covered. Road trips mean national parks, Native American reservations, camping, researching history, drawing and long drives with music on open roads. Photography has not always lead my ambitions but it has been a common thread. It is in these experiences that history is tangible and can be felt in the ghosts of places. Small towns can be savored, sunrises can be moments fixed in time and of course the road can be exhausting. But in the end the pictures help focus the memory on wonderful times....
Feb 25, 2020 |
Italy is a place that I have gone to often. Mostly traveling with family, visiting family and taking in the sites, wine and food. My photography of the beautiful landscapes, ruins, statues and sunlight was more in tune with a travel photographer. Occasionally a figure would enter the frame, but that was more happenstance than intention. Instead I was after nostalgia, the deadliest of the contemporary artist’s emotions. It wasn’t until my last trip that I embraced what was truly happening there. With over 500 pictures I created a montage that depicts Italy as I truly saw it. A country running rampant with selfie taking tourists. In this case I used the famed Trevi Fountain as my backdrop and captured hundreds of people taking selfies before it....
Jan 29, 2020 |
I’ve taught photography in many settings. Nothing academic but more down to earth and on the level of the snapshot. Senior citizens, inner-city youth and homeless individuals. The settings included community centers, group homes and shelters. The pictures mostly taken on the streets of Boston. The aim was to learn basic compositional skills, how to use whatever camera was to hand and shoot. In the end there was always an exhibition. Funding was personal with money tossed in by the participating organization. At one time I even received a grant from the City of Cambridge. “Robert taught me to how to take pictures of people without cutting off their heads.” Boston...
