Art Statement
I am drawn to the vitality and expressiveness of landscape. Through the use of black and white photography, I work to convey that which the natural world inspires by looking for a sense of climatic atmosphere. I search for the absence or reflection of sunlight, marks on the terrain, the transitory state of a tree or the connective presence of animals. While shooting, I focus upon the geometries and balance within the elements of nature such as land and sky, light and dark. I wait for the shapes and effects to form naturally and then compose my images from them.
I use infrared film because it allows me to capture the scene in a particular way. Infrared is sensitive to the invisible light spectrum and its recorded effect can bring forth a quality to the air that is seemingly diffused and “weightless”. There is a play on light that suggests an altered perception or dreamlike-existence. The feeling of a place is powerful enough it can sometimes trigger a memory or a vision of being somewhere else, whether it's remembered or imagined. Infrared radiation and visible radiation often are transmitted and reflected quite differently by natural objects. For example, live foliage that contains chlorophyll transmits mostly infrared radiation and is recorded in a light tone in the final print. A daytime sky can appear to be night. When shooting with infrared, I imagine or have an awareness of how infrared reflectance might react to land, water and sky as much of this is indiscernible by the naked eye.
For me, all stages of the seasons are expressive, from unplanted farmland to vegetation in full of foliage. A recurring subject in my photographs has been trees - representations of the cycle of life - which also can create spatial harmony within an open vista. I find interesting the concept of time as non-linear and its relationship to the seasons re-emerging as depicted in Chinese art.
I admire the work of Mario Giacomelli who said that he “is trying to photograph the consciousness of nature” when he photographed the farmed landscapes of Southern Italy. I seek to find and transmit the essence of a landscape in my studies.