I learned the photographic art decades ago, with film, in a darkroom… These things still exist, like vinyl records, for purists, but photography now lives mostly in the digital world. Digital photo editing (via Photoshop, or other image editing software) provides a range of editing tools and techniques that go far beyond the film/print process envelope.
The fact that something can be done, does not mean that it should be done.
When you look through my gallery, what I hope you see are real and plausible images. I want you to see what I saw. Maybe even feel something. Other than the Surrealism section (a whole other story), you will not see oversaturated, highly edited images.
You will see images that represent what I saw. I had the good fortune to study under Tom Eckersley at SUNY. (He is eight-three now, and I am still in touch with him) In his “Color Transparency Materials” class we were required to take all our images on Ektachrome transparency film. Color slide film – the original WYSIWYG. No possibility of editing, just Shoot, and Develop, using the hour-long E-4 process. Exposure had to be perfect. Composition had to be perfect. Unlike Photoshop or even the darkroom, it was not possible to change the image in any way. The medium forced all of us to slow down, and craft our images in the camera, something that has followed me my whole career.
Largely from the influence of the professor Eckersley’s instruction, my artistic philosophy centers on realism. I’m not purist of the No-Editing-School. I allow myself the digital equivalents of cropping, dodging and burning (for those who never got to experience the darkroom, the latter two are means of reducing or increasing exposure in selected portions of the image – this was accomplished by waving your hand or custom shaped cardboard cutouts over the print paper during exposure under the enlarger – think shadow puppets in a dimly lit room), and contrast. Contrast could be adjusted somewhat by the choice of printing paper and or chemistry selection. It was all so much easier if you started with a properly composed and exposed image from the camera. I do allow myself two digital manipulations: (1) because I also strive for timeless images, I will remove annoying or anachronistic details (power meters on colonial buildings) and (2) to digitally swap in a “better sky”. Very few of us have the flexibility to wait for perfect weather or the right set of clouds…
What I create is an honest interpretation of the beauty I saw when I took the original image. It is what I want to share that with you.
