I don't wish to create art that meets pathos of arrested adolescents.  Voyeuristic boys: coveting the next and better vessel without fathoming it might hold something more; Objectified girls: yearning to catch eyes as her true self becomes invisible.  So we are raised.  A society of consumers, preferably with plenty of disposable income and little inclination to reach beyond the remote control.

"Surfaces reveal inner states - cameras record surfaces."  Minor White

For far too long, I tried to discern the line between a sensual image and a sexual one, believing that an image was exploitive if on one side of that line.  I have come to realize that such a line is not only completely subjective and fluid, it is also illusory.  The divider that eluded my conscious mind, is the distinction between model as subject and model as object.

"I learned quickly enough when to click the shutter, but what I was becoming aware of more slowly was a story writer’s truth: the thing to wait on, to reach there in time for, is the moment in which people reveal themselves.  You have to be ready.  In yourself, you have to know the moment when you see it."  Eudora Welty

I am on a journey to learn to create images that reveal aspects of our humanity: passion, pain, laughter, yearning, and whimsy.  A portrait of an empty vessel (no matter how perfectly formed and finished) is no less a still life when that vessel assumes a human form.  But an image that  hints at one’s humanity, discloses one’s emotional state, exposes a significant facet of the model -- such images -- have the power to move, impact, and stay with the viewer.

A photograph’s impact is described by three, non-exclusive relationships: photographer and subject; subject and viewer; photographer and viewer.  Photographer and model -- no matter how skilled -- can craft and control only one of those relationships.  It is the invitation they extend, their respective comfort “within” their own skins and the willingness to share of themselves, that invites the viewer to invest in the relationship, that empowers a transformation of craft to art.

"The sin of inadvertence, not being alert, not quite awake, is the sin of missing the moment of life – live with unrelenting awareness."  Joseph Campbell 

If these thoughts and quotes resonate for you, join me one this journey, let’s see if we can make some art!

Whimsical Images - Portland, OR

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