Artist Statement
My work is exclusively street portraits of strangers. I ask passersby if they will stand for a portrait. Only a few choose to participate. I ask my subjects to be serious and look into the lens. To me, a portrait must have eye contact so that the viewer can engage with the subject in a personal way. I always strive to present my subjects naturally and with dignity. My goal is to show something both personal and universal, and to produce a portrait that is not of the moment, but rather transcendant of time. In every day life we may see people who look interesting to us, we may wonder about their lives, but we can't go up to strangers, stare into their eyes, and study their faces. That would be rude, and even impossible. Here, through the magic of photography, such an opportunity exists. For those who love humanity, this experience can be emotionally very powerful.
Process Statement
I shoot Ilford Delta Pro 400 black-and-white film with a Pentax 6x7II medium format camera. I use 90mm and 135mm lenses. I do all of my own work from start to finish. I either make gelatin silver prints in the traditional darkroom, or archival pigment prints from negatives I develop, scan, and adjust in PhotoShop, following traditional darkroom practices. Images in my Black Angeles portfolio have been selectively handcolored to create an effect half way between black-and-white and color.
How to use our image viewer
Click on any of the thumbnail images to launch the viewer. You can then navigate forward and backward within the portfolio by clicking the left or right side of the enlarged image. Click the add to collection checkbox to automatically add an image to your collection. Image tags or search engine keywords appear below the collections' checkbox and each word or phrase is a link to potentially more image matches.