Black Sturgeon Lake Ontario

The Fence Row, Dordogne

Faces are magnetic and always seem to catch me in midstride. Those of third world countries, untouched by sophistication, are incredible available to the camera. There is a mixture of trust, curiosity and openness that I don’t see in developed countries. I ask permission with my eyes and the invitation is immediately accepted. There is no internal struggle about whether to put on one face or another. Always, the self is revealed. My photographs are the underpinnings of my paintings.

People are unequivocally shaped by geography. City people do cit things and country people do country things. Landscapes tell stories on their inhabitants. They talk about food, textures, habits, hardships, beauty, longing. History and, often, the future are told by a landscape caught in a dot in time, just as a palm reader predicts the future from age-old lines.

            Often, in an image, the two, people and landscapes, come together and the story has more drama. It will tell about an occupation, a dream, a tradition, a relationship. The how’s, the when’s, the where’s all merge into visual information. Sometimes the information is complete; sometimes it yields only a question. Either way I want to catch your attention and change you just a little.

Photo Credit: William Morrow