Many of my images bear little resemblance to what initially comes out of my camera. I am not a photojournalist in that my passion is not to record reality accurately with my camera.
I consider myself an artist and my camera is one of my tools. My photographs emerge from my intention and the scenes captured by my camera are just raw materials I use to realize that intention. The work I do in my digital studio is the completion of that intention evolving from the images I choose to combine, layer and process in a particular way.
Much of my current work begins with a series of images blended in camera (up to 9), using that combined image as the basis for further post processing and refinement or as a stand alone image. These in-the-field excursions are time consuming and have an unpredictable quality that I find intriguing. Images resulting from this process do not exist in reality, but are ‘familiar’ and often even surprising.
Other works consist of composites…layering several images (sometimes subject related, sometimes not) together in post processing. I cannot always predict with certainty where this process will take me but my challenge is to create work that represents my own unique vision.
I experience myself differently with camera in hand. The world is filled with subtleties that are easily missed in day to day living. With digital, I am in control of the process from inspiration, conception, to the finished print. To engage the viewer, touch them in some way and spark a response is always part of my creative process.