"What you're trying to create is a certain kind of an indispensable presence, where your position in the narrative is not contingent on whether somebody likes you, or somebody knows you, or somebody's a friend, or somebody's being generous to you." —Kerry James Marshall, NPR News 2017
MY BOOK
The cold weather has arrived in the Rocky Mountains. I’ve changed my routine a little bit. I’m up early every day to start a fire, make coffee, and get our cat, Moshe, fed.
I read a lot, and I’m writing a lot every day. I enjoy it immensely. I’m very excited about the content of this book. My goal is to have the text fully explain the theories that I go on about in these posts. However, I want to do it in a simple and straightforward way so that a layperson can understand and relate to it. I believe I can make that happen, I’ve been spending a lot of time synthesizing the material and translating it into simple English. I can’t emphasize how important these ideas are for every human being to understand—they are truly life-changing—and that’s not an overstatement.
In order for people to understand these ideas, I need to explain how I came to them through my art and photography work. That’s a long story with a lot of history. I’ve been struggling with articulating why I’ve done what I’ve done over the years, and now I have the answers. I’m excited to share all of it.
I’m digging up memories of my early photography days and going over past projects and work. I’m evaluating what I was trying to do and understanding what I learned from each body of work. It’s like putting a puzzle together.
I just wrote about an exhibition I had in undergraduate school. That was over 30 years ago. The ideas I was reaching for are so clear to me now. And they are more relevant to my work now than ever. The connections and insights I make doing this are really enlightening to me. They clarify my intentions and complete my journey toward understanding the psychology of "othering," which is the only issue I've ever felt motivated to address in my work. Because of that, this work is the most important I’ve ever done.
The writing has turned into a mini-biography, at least in the sense of my photography and art life. It’s going to be interesting to hear the feedback when people read these stories and see the connections I’ve made. In a lot of ways, this project is the culmination of my life’s work. It sums up everything I’ve done in my career as an artist and photographer. Not only that, but I clearly define the motivation for creating the work.
It feels really good to share the ideas, the work, the progress, and the insight gained from all of it. I think it will be valuable for people interested in the arc of a fine art career in photography. I'm grateful for my life in the arts, and I’m particularly grateful that I’ve spent my career in photography. It’s been very good for me. It’s given me insight and direction that I wouldn’t have been able to get from anything else.
I’m breaking the book into the following chapters and parts:
The Preface
Artist’s Statement
Chapter One: Introduction
Chapter Two: Landscapes
Chapter Three: Flora
Chapter Four: Symbols & Objects
Chapter Five: Essays On Mortality, Photography & Philosophy
Stay tuned!
A whole plate calotype (paper negative) in a window mat—a dwarf Ponderosa Pine tree.