Thanks for stopping by and for your interest in my work.
As you can see, I have created a new website for my own photography. I no longer share space with Rebecca on her site (Rebecca Gerendasy Clay – Art ). I have a particular project in mind that may take some time to complete with two main goals. Over the next several years, I’m working toward getting my prints into galleries and to also publish a photo book. For this website, I plan to continue offering my archival pigment prints for sale but I also want to add pictures for browsing that I think you may also like to see. I shoot, edit, print, mount and mat my own work.
What is it about photography that i love so much? I guess for me, I divide the answer into three parts.
First, I enjoy the taking of the picture itself. The mystery and the allure. It draws me like a siren to the shores of creative discovery. I often take pictures of urban environments, of particular interest are old buildings, signs and graffiti that I see. Rusting objects, too. I’m also drawn to the beauty found in nature, the absence of man’s built environment nowhere to be seen. I photograph quite a variety of subjects but only a relative few will turn into either black and white or full color prints. While the original picture is always shot in color, there are images that lend themselves strongly to black and white as final prints; it’s rare (for me) that an image looks equally strong in both forms.
The second part is the most critical stage. I take each chosen image and (principally) edit it in Photoshop to draw out the inherent qualities that define the image. Whether it’s the mystery or an inherent beauty within, I seek to enhance its emotional feel and visual impact. With digital photography, although I’m not a painter per se, I paint with light in a selective and highly controlled manner. Photography, both analog (which I did in my youth) and digital, are about working with various processes, each has its own set of inherent limitations but also wide possibilities. For even the taking of the picture itself, there are many different potential approaches: the chosen subject itself, the framing, what lens to use, etc. , some even are made without conscious thinking. My goal is to work within the limitations of my own (beginning to end) workflow while trying to reduce the unnecessary variables to reliably shape a desired outcome. A simple example. There are hundreds of fine art papers that I can choose to use, all with their many sets of unique characteristics: tonal qualities, smoothness, degree of blackness (Dmax), textures— differences, both subtle and dramatic. I choose to work with only three paper types and all from the same fine art paper manufacturer (Canson). An example of a built-in limitation: how to translate what our eyes can see onto a paper surface that contains only a fraction of the dynamic range capability of our eyes. In the end, whatever the camera and lens combinations, the paper, the printer, the software— these are mere tools that are used in the service of conveying the photographer’s vision. If my pictures fail to inspire or move you in some way, it is not my equipment that is at fault, it is only me.
My third reason, simply put, I want to make lasting prints that are worthy of their (generous) 100 years of potential longevity. I want you to almost fall in love with my images, enough to want to put them on your walls to enjoy and share with others.
Like photography, the journey of life itself is a wonder and a mystery. What gives our lives individual meaning and purpose contains both wide possibilities along with self limitations. What we choose to do with our lives is for each to decide of their own. For me, I offer my photographs, they are what inspires me.