By nature, I am a fairly straightforward, concrete thinker -- not given to metaphysical or convoluted (tortured?) artspeak when examining why I do what I do as an artist and photographer. I am also, by nature, given to taking a childlike pleasure in the world around me. Thus it is always my inclination to play with images, just for the fun of it, to move them away from the strictly realistic (an illusion, by definition, in any form of photography) to varying levels of abstraction.
In truth, in the very act of choosing to photograph this and not that, you have imposed your mind's-eye view, so to speak, on reality. A little bump in contrast there, some tweaking of color there, elimination of that distracting bird poop there, removal of those intrusive power lines there, and voila! You have a new reality -- a reality, one hopes, that leads to an engaging example of a fine art print.
I have always photographed those places and people who stimulate the child's "Wow" factor in my mind's eye, or at least engage my "Gee, that's interesting" response. My intention as an artist' especially in terms of the images presented here, has always been to pass along as much of that simple pleasure of seeing as I can.
The advent of the digital medium opened up a whole new realm of exploration. For me, it has provided the tools to better communicate what I saw in my mind. Besides appealing to that inner child in search of instant photographic gratification (a promise made, but never fully realized, by Dr. Land), digital capture has enabled me to work a subject more freely and fully, unfettered by thoughts of film and processing costs. I can also revisit earlier work through digital scans, getting a second byte of the Apple, so to speak, and discovering new images inside the old.
The digital darkroom-on-a-motherboard is a wondrous vehicle for experimentation and image control, giving feedback in moments on image adjustments that would take hours to assess in a "wet" darkroom. For better or worse, the final print -- at least up to 13 by 19 inches -- can now be my own creation in whole.
If the images you see here manage to convey some of the pleasure I experienced in their creation, I will consider them successful. If you feel better, but fail to extract some deeper insights or questions regarding the Meaning Of It All, then you are properly tuned to my message.
Enjoy!
Jim
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