It's been pointed out to me that I'm always smiling when I'm snapping pictures. I suspect it's because when I have the camera in my hand I feel like I'm where I should be.
I am drawn to images that depict our very human pursuit of recreation, leisure, and innovation - most especially if they're from the recent past. An out-of-season amusement park is my heaven; old motel signs, drive-ins, roadside attractions, and scenes of "Americana" thrill me. People leaving their mark on the landscape as they pursue the Good Life. I look for the humor and warmth in the human experience. There's a word I love: kenopsia. It refers to the feeling one gets when visiting a place that's normally crowded with people but is eerily empty. It's a ghostly, melancholy feeling. I seek that out too. I'm also drawn to factory buildings, geometrical patterns, solitary self-absorbed people, wide open spaces, and images where people have left their own personal, endearing impression on the world, like hand-written signs with poor grammar (be still my heart). I've photographed products and lifestyle shots with models for small businesses, head shots for websites, special events, and portraits. I also enjoy painting - primarily in acrylics. I paint images on driftwood, I like how the wood absorbs the paint and bringing the beach into my home as I work. I also work in encaustics. Whimsical images of women in bathing caps diving with a controlled abandon. I paint a lot of those. It makes me happy. I'll do one for you, if you like. I live in Maine and I love it here. |