Overview

This work represents a body of images I'm intent on publishing of my ex wife. I've themed and arranged this book as "Person/Persona", looking into the roles of wife as muse/subject and friend. It transitions from black and white to color which marks the years when the color chemistry process was finally made available to the general public. It took place around 1980 and a big shift in artwork reflected this newly available process.
My work in general tries to combine a sense of being informal (almost to the point of looking accidental) but with a somewhat formal construction of the image. I also weave in a loose visual "narrative" and find these situations in my everyday life. My photos are primarily autobiographical and they all have a direct connection to my daily activities.
The influences that shaped me during the earliest years of my study in photography were profound as there were several years in the 70's where I had great access to some of the great photographers of that time. In 1970 during my last year at Ohio University I wrote several well known national photographers, (Ansel Adams, Brett Weston, Minor White, Jack Welpott and more) to see if I could apprentice with them my last semester. Jack Welpott was the only one who said yes to the idea and I lived with he and Judy Dater (another great photographer of the time) for 3 mo. in San Anselmo, CA. During my stay, Jack also introduced me to Frederick Sommer and on my way back to Ohio I visited Fred in Prescott, Az for over a week of concentrated time of study. A couple years later when visiting Jack and Judy again he introduced me to Cheri Hiser who set up the well known photo workshops in Aspen, CO called "Center of the Eye" and, later, Sun Valley Arts Center in ID. Cheri invited me to teach the summer of 1974 and I then met and taught with Lee Friedlander, Bea Nettles, Ruth Burnhard, Peter deLory and others. Shortly after that I worked in Boston for several months and while there had the opportunity to do private study with Minor White/M.I.T. at his home in Arlington, MA. Combined, all these encounters gave me a much greater sense of a formal photographic vision. Coupling that with my "character", being somewhat informal with life and fixed on my "everyday", it has given me work that is simultaneously formal and informal. I think the narrative comes from just looking at what is passing through my daily life.