January 2013
Artist’s Statement
In the desert time seems to stand still. The endless expanse of cactus and desert shrubs appears to be the same year after year, decade after decade. In reality the desert is ever changing. Wind, rain, drought, and man insure the inevitable change. Some change is from year to year; others take decades or even thousands of years to complete. This is the Big Bend of Texas.
I have a fondness for the desert. It has an emotional, familiar quality. The darkness at night, the quiet solitude, the vastness, are elements of nature that I seem to identify within myself. I am at home in the open spaces of the desert.
Big Bend National Park is an eight hundred thousand acre preserve in far west Texas. This is a vast, unique area. Having photographed in the area for over twenty years, I have seen the changing landscape but also experienced some of what appears to be constant and eternal.
I document this desert landscape to show not only its scenic beauty but also the intimate components of the environment. With each trip I discover something new. I also re-visit areas I have photographed before. Some to show change, some to explore a difference in vision and emotional response to the same subject.
I am a traditionalist in the methods and approach I use. All of the Big Bend work has been produced with an 8×10 view camera. The large film size shows fine detail on enlargement and printing. Even though digital seems to be supplanting film, the large camera still has a place in creative expression. Working with the camera on a tripod, the size and weight of the camera demand a deliberate focus on subject and your response. However, I prefer to use digital technology for printing. The negatives are scanned and then printed using archival papers. I enjoy the marriage of traditional methods and digital technology.
Biography
I was born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1948. I spent my earliest years at Edwards Air Force base in California where I developed an appreciation of the high desert landscape. My family eventually settled in Fort Worth, Texas. I’ve lived in Texas most of my life, and I currently reside in the Dallas area.
I became interested in photography while in my early twenties. Shortly thereafter I built my first darkroom and began to pursue photography in earnest. I immersed myself in the production of images and learning the art of photography. My hobby became a profession. I have been involved in commercial photography for the last thirty years. During all of this time I continued to pursue my personal work and practice the craft of photography.
Most of my images are black-and-white landscapes, which I consider my true photographic passion. I work in this medium because of the nuances of texture and tone. The subtle qualities rendered by black-and-white capture the moment more expressively. Black-and-white images require a more emotional response from the viewer. The absence of color demands that the qualities of illumination and tone produce the emotional response instead of a response to color alone.
Photos Do Not Bend Gallery, Dallas, Texas
http://jackridleyphotography.com
