March 2013
Artist’s Statement
Aside from the directness and honesty of the nudity, the photos in this selection are relatively dissimilar and have no intentional connection with each other. In them I have tried to show, in uncomplicated compositions and sometimes as metaphor, a range of human emotions and activities: sadness, melancholy, awareness of the evanescence of life, contentment, pride, resistance, domination, and in a lighter vein, the sometimes aftermath of partying. Several of the photos in this collection show women – though they could just as easily have been men, too – in those pensive moments of recollecting the past or pondering that always-mysterious future. I think nudity, using minimal props and setting, isolates these feelings more clearly than clothed figures and more elaborate settings.
My preference for simplicity, truth, mystery, and classic looks no doubt comes from my long-time fascination with Chinese and Japanese art in the Taoist and Zen traditions, as well as the painters of Europe’s classical age.
Biography
I am an amateur photographer based in the Southern Crescent of the Atlanta metro area. My favorite photo themes are: rugged landscapes, religious structures and activities, isolating those interesting human moments from daily life, and the expressive capabilities of the nude human body.
An enthusiastic teenage photographer, with my own kitchen darkroom, I lost contact with photography for decades as making a living and family concerns trumped love. Now in retirement, I have returned to photography and find it an exciting and fulfilling way to finally exercise my creative inclinations.
Aside from having the Showcase School help me transition to digital, I basically learned what I know of the craft from a large pile of photo books, and from my friends at the Fayette Photo Club.
