I have been working with Photography since 1948. I have been teaching Photography in Austria in the Guild System until 1964. I then taught Photography until my retirement at MSU in 1998, in Bozeman, Montana.
Art as a form of learning has always been my approach to photography. Trying to translate my life experience with the help of photography to understand it, has been a wonderful gift to me.
During the last twenty years of my life, seemingly great limitations have been put on my moving around. Being a care taker has cut out travel and even longer hikes.
But what I found was, that even a limited environment offers almost unlimited possibilities in really seeing what is in front of me. Nothing stays ever the same. Objects take on a deeper meaning for me. Light creates wonders, that touch all my senses. Not to forget the heart! Within the confines of a home, wonders abound. Photography has turned into a real blessing.
Rules and conventions have fallen away. Archival digital printing helps me in creating tangible slices in time. Prints are still a joy for me to see and have in my hand. They are open to me and others to share in my Experience.
Photography as an artifact still seems to hold more power, than when seen on a computer screen. How long we will still able to print our experience may soon end.
These prints deal more with the warmer, friendlier side of life. Many others echo the darker side of my and our life at this time.
Rudi Dietrich