Artist Statement
These images were photographed with the use of a 4x5 studio camera. This camera has given me a deeper love for my photography and through the use of the tilts and swings of the camera has allowed me greater access into my own vision as a contemporary photographer. My desire to hold onto the traditional aspects of black and white film and then crossing it with the alternative process has taken my work and vision to heights that are uniquely my own. The negative, through controlled exposure and development yields the contrast and density that I desire. The liquid emulsion allows my work to flow, to become something of itself and something that for me has become a world of its own
The double exposure is made in camera using one negative. The liquid emulsion is brushed onto watercolor paper under the red lights of the darkroom, and then exposed with the photographic negative. The darkroom chemistry is brushed on after the exposure has been made and is applied in a fashion that has become very natural to my intuition as a craftsman. The variations of the brush strokes of the emulsion and the painterly qualities of the chemistry dripping down the photograph presents to the viewer an image that is not only photographic, but also inherently related to printmaking and painting.
The Sleepers came to me in the early process of working with the liquid emulsion when I captured a remembrance of Andrew Sullivan that reminded him of the portraits taken by Julia Margaret Cameron. The images in this portfolio come to me as a blessing and allow my expression to be truly natural to my instincts as a fine art photographer. They have made me aware of the longevity of the photographic image in contemporary thinking as shown by the exquisite expression that filters through my own creative mind.
DD - 2011
