REFLECTIONS ON WHAT I DO
(after 45 years – half of those in New York City)
I strive to MAKE photographs (as opposed to TAKING them). In the studio, I start from blackness and purposely add all the elements: light, objects, background, foreground, etc. In the outdoors, I start from an encounter with an intriguing scene that piques my interest. Later, back home in the digital studio/darkroom, I then spend endless hours selecting, editing and adjusting.
I enjoy the CRAFT of creating photographs, examining every detail until it is “right”. Making a “simple” object look fantastic can be as challenging as putting together a complex set. It isn’t what I shoot that matters. Indeed, it is often more fun to make something dull and ordinary look interesting than it is a beautiful face or flower. Over the years, I have photographed an amazing variety of subjects: from food, to jewelry, cosmetics, and clothing, to electronics, appliances, sports gear and pharmaceuticals, to turtles, teddy bears and Chihuahuas, to bubbles and balloons. As my commercial work has waned, my outdoor projects have blossomed. My first notable venture, Trunks of the Gunks, now a book, took me out of the studio and into the woods in a search of the improbable, the peculiar and the amusing.
Still-life can have LIFE. I love creating an organic image, adding subtle touches that take it beyond being just another bland shot. If appropriate, I try to have fun with it. Often, the first 95% is created relatively quickly, but the last 5% can take seemingly forever, as I struggle to make it great. It is this last step that ends up distinguishing the image. With outdoor images, the challenge is to identify those images that resonate, that have a special energy, that strike a chord and then tweak away until that moment when they feel right.
I work HANDS-ON. When in the studio, I frequently paint or otherwise create backgrounds and construct simple props. I’ve even grown plants from seed to be used in a miniature set, because I wanted that newly sprouted look. When beyond my capabilities, I access a network of great people who provide whatever is called for. Also, I always do my own on set styling, since composition and lighting are totally intertwined.
I believe in LISTENING to a client and hearing what they consider important, then incorporating that into the creative process. I never try to impose a given “look” just because it is the latest visual style. If a client needs help figuring out what to do with a photo, I am eager to do so – be it recommending a background or brainstorming a concept to illustrate an idea.
I have photographed primarily advertising assignments, working with many talented art directors on AWARD WINNING projects. Additionally I have created notable images for magazines, catalogues, annual reports, cookbooks, calendars and websites. My clients have been as diverse as my subject matter, and have included The Gap, American Express, Chanel, and IBM (the actual list would fill this page).
Now that I am welcoming grandchildren into the world, I work mostly on my personal projects. As an outdoor loving person, I am most happy packing up my camera and heading out into the woods near my house in the Shawangunk Mountains of New York. Many days I hike for miles and the camera never leaves my pack. On other days, I can take but a few steps from my house, and images start jumping out at me and there is later much to download and sift through. And some days there might be only one scene captured, but it is a winner. After twenty years of working at it, I am proud to have developed a unique vision that differentiates from the vast glut of outdoor images.
So far, I have authored two books and been part of a third. I have many others ideas in pipeline which I plug away at.
I am honored that several large prints of the Trunks of the Gunks images are featured in the great room of the Grove Lodge addition to Mohonk Mountain House.
The books Trunks of the Gunks (now a revised and expanded edition), Ledge Lake Leaf Labyrinth and Saving the Shawangunks are available at local retailers in the New Paltz area, here on this website, from the publisher Black Dome Press and elswehere online.
Please feel free to CONTACT me to discuss a pending project, obtain a quote, license an image or just offer any comments. The photographs here (plus many more) are available as fine art prints.