PHOTOGRAPHY

Photographer's Statement

Being a mechanical dimwit and later an electronic dimwit, I've had to rely on a contemplative eye.

The logo for my first solo photography show was inspired by sculptor Rita Sutcliffe's abstract bronze of a mudra or hand-gesture in classical Indian dance. I placed the sculpture against a round household lamp so the "hand" part of the sculpture could be reflected in a window pane – to symbolize how even the most sophisticated of our choreographed gestures begins with the simplicity and suppleness of the human hand.

Fractals fascinate me: that correspondence of form in Nature—like intricately spreading tendrils repeated from capillaries to vines to tree roots to river deltas…. I've seen tide-spangled patterns on an estuary that exactly echoed fish scales. Microcosms and macrocosms hold hands. And macro photography gets you close enough to make everyday sights or objects change their shape and yield a mystery. Above all, it helps you make these imaginative connections.

A paperweight produces a phantom. Ten inches of lakeshore can summon impending storm clouds. The frill of an orchid petal resembles a curtained edge in the Northern Lights. Water itself, close up, offers anything from quicksilver to amoebas to knots and knurls of wood, to molten lava. After all, we ourselves are made from particles in the universe. Archetypes answer our vision, no matter where we walk.