Silicon Valley (Oak>LAS>LBB), 2014 pigment print image 9 x 11
I photograph places that interest me
because they contain details that pose questions related to a broadly
defined notion of "Landscape." I'm interested in any situation that
prompts contemplation of the curiously complex connections we share
with the larger patterns of existence. Remote wilderness and rural
settings, vernacular byways, urban environments, ancient pathways,
ruins, historic, mythic and spiritual pilgrimage sites, scientific and
technological research facilities, folk and professional museums,
shrines, collections, displays, and dioramas all fascinate me because
these places reflect individual and collective responses,
understandings, and a myriad of relationships to the same world I live
in. I've shifted frames of reference continually, seeking new insights
that might be hidden behind the details that are in plain view.
Since the late 1970's I've worked on a series of personal and group
photographic projects. In one way or another, they all explored and
challenged traditional notions about documentation, interpretation, and
the relations between the perceiver and perceived. I began by creating
mixed media pieces, drawing with pencils or crayons directly on my
photographs to acknowledge them as physical objects and artifacts; and
to invite viewers to participate in the experience and interpretation.
For the Rephotographic Survey Project, I was most interested in using
repeat photography to investigate not just how the camera could help us
record the world changing through time, but to examine how both the
photographer and the medium of photography distort the world by
rendering it as an image. I've worked with many camera formats from
35mm to medium format, view camera, panoramic, digital, and homemade
cameras. When making straight "non-manipulated" prints, I usually
install them in groups to encourage reading between the photographs
while looking at them. In 1999 I helped establish an interdisciplinary
archive at the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library at
Texas Tech University called The Millennial Collection, which continues
to collect professional, student, and vernacular photographs, artist
books, and creative texts to record multiple responses to time, place,
and culture. This archive is being recycled back into the community
through exhibitions and publications, and it serves as a resource for
research, collaborative projects, and networking with other communities.
pigment print
image 9 x 11
Since the late 1970's I've worked on a series of personal and group photographic projects. In one way or another, they all explored and challenged traditional notions about documentation, interpretation, and the relations between the perceiver and perceived. I began by creating mixed media pieces, drawing with pencils or crayons directly on my photographs to acknowledge them as physical objects and artifacts; and to invite viewers to participate in the experience and interpretation. For the Rephotographic Survey Project, I was most interested in using repeat photography to investigate not just how the camera could help us record the world changing through time, but to examine how both the photographer and the medium of photography distort the world by rendering it as an image. I've worked with many camera formats from 35mm to medium format, view camera, panoramic, digital, and homemade cameras. When making straight "non-manipulated" prints, I usually install them in groups to encourage reading between the photographs while looking at them. In 1999 I helped establish an interdisciplinary archive at the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library at Texas Tech University called The Millennial Collection, which continues to collect professional, student, and vernacular photographs, artist books, and creative texts to record multiple responses to time, place, and culture. This archive is being recycled back into the community through exhibitions and publications, and it serves as a resource for research, collaborative projects, and networking with other communities.