For the last couple of years I’ve been working on a series of “natural” still lifes. In this series I’ve concentrated on taking small scenes found in nature and lightly repositioning a few of the elements to recompose the scene from the way I originally found it. I may try dozens of different variations, but always using only the bits and pieces that were there originally. Usually I’ve been able to improve the structure, but sometimes I end up where I started and the scene is best left as it was. So maybe I can’t call these still lifes in the traditional sense, but I’m working with the same ends in mind.–Frank Fuerst
Bio: In the late 70s, while studying engineering at Brown University in Providence, I had the good fortune of taking a couple of introductory photography courses at the Rhode Island School of Design. There I learned my way around a black-and-white darkroom and the basics of composition and storytelling. I shot film – black-and-white and Kodachrome – up until about 10 years ago when I finally was won over to digital. I don’t work in a darkroom any longer, but I still love completing the life cycle of an image and making a print. We live in a digital world and it opens up so many options, but in the end, for me, the process is not complete until I follow it through all the way to a print. I’ve lived in Atlanta since 1981, when I ventured south to further my education and pursue a career. Of course, I still can’t say I’m a Southerner, but I do now call the South my home.
Contact: fpfuerst@mindspring.com
