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Photography, a Universal Language On the eve of 2014 I have finished processing the last of the 6 boxes of 5x7 film I shot this year. In the morning I’ll start on the (approximately) hundred sheets of 8x10 and fifty of 5 x 12 film still to process, but I’m encouraged to see images I want to print later this winter. It was busy year with workshops in Alabama, North Dakota, Montana, on the Erie ...

Chasing Fog I love photographing in the fog. The perfect fog creates the effect of working in a giant soft box, with everything bathed by a soft, round light. Objects appear different in the fog. At a distance they appear indistinct, only revealing themselves as you move closer. This effect allows me to concentrate on the shapes in the environment rather than the texture and context of an object. It helps to create a sense ...

The Limitations of Limited Editions I am often asked why I do or don’t edition my work. Historically the idea of edition prints came out of printmaking and is generally understood to mean a number of prints made from the same original, using similar materials. There are different kinds of editions, those in the medium in which the artist actually worked and reproduction prints of original prints or paintings, sometimes made during the life of ...

Musing From China Imagine you are seated around the table of a nice restaurant with 15 photographers. The wine and beer flows freely, and there is more food on the large lazy Susan in the center of the table than you can imagine finishing in one meal. The voices are loud and the conversation animated yet you don’t understand a word. Although it is Mandarin, a gesture and occasional word crosses the language barrier showing ...

The Power of Positive Thinking Happy New Year! Although I am not a big fan of New Year’s resolutions I do believe in the power of positive thinking. Either approach, if given consistent thought, usually results in actions that make a difference in the quality of our lives. Looking back on the year I came across a few thoughts I’ve wanted to share but didn’t get around to, for one reason or another. Though on ...

  The Perfect Image Last week I took part in a conversation on photography, in particular the trends and needs of photographic education. What did students want to learn and what was important for them to learn? An educator made the statement that the days of seeking the perfect image were over. She said that social media has made the quest for the perfect image obsolete. Students are more interested in how to get their ...

Knowledge versus Information In Webster’s 1988 New World Dictionary the words knowledge and information are used to define one another and in our culture often used as synonyms. I think, however, that there is an important distinction between the two words. When I think of these two words I think of information as the data from which knowledge is gleaned. I tend to think of information as passive in that it is a collection of ...

Returning Home Who says you can’t go home again? I think you can, if you are willing to recognize and accept the changes that have taken place in both yourself and your old home. I returned to my hometown, Decatur (AL), for a ten-day photo trip in January of this year. I made a conscious choice to approach Decatur, not as the place I grew up, but as a new location for me to explore ...

Pilgrimage pilgrimage n 1. a journey to a shrine or other sacred place 2. a journey or long search made for exalted or sentimental reasons - vb (intr) to make a pilgrimage (Webster’s Dictionary) Pilgrimage is an interesting word, the same spelling used as both a noun and a verb. It is the second definition that intrigues me, a journey or long search made for exalted or sentimental reasons. I would also add for unknown reasons. ...

 The Thin Envelope  We have all gotten them, the long awaited reply that comes in the thin envelope. Replies from committees that arrive in thin envelopes are not, usually, the news we are hoping to hear. The rejection letters are always in thin envelopes, probably because it doesn’t take much space to say “Thanks but no thanks.” Good news comes in thick envelopes, envelopes filled with further instructions and forms needing to be filled with ...