Beijing Rickshaw Driver

Although many of the quaint and culturally rich areas that I visited a few years ago have been torn down as they were replaced in an effort to 'modernize' for the 2008 Olympics, the Peoples Republic of China is still a fantastic country to photograph.

This portrait of the traditional rickshaw driver is one of my favorite images as it presents that cultural juxtaposition of the 'old' and the 'new' that I have often experienced throughout my visits to China.

Rickshaw driver, Peoples Republic of China, 2004

Source - An Ongoing Series

A series, like any body of work, is created over a period of time, which, in the case of Source, has been a period of almost ten years.

In this era of instant gratification, it is sometimes difficult to understand the concept of a project that is years in the making and development. We tend to look for the immediate and we so often forget the simple, yet extreme, satisfaction that comes with savoring the time and creating photographs, instead of merely taking snapshots.

Working with silver gelatin film allows one to slow down and actually think about the process of photography, yet you can't get bogged down in the technical, for the concept of the final image has to be constantly in the forefront of creation. It's never a simple matter of taking a bunch of snapshots and hoping you can find something worthwhile by messing around with some plug-ins or actions in some editing program or app. You have to be able to plan from the very beginning; camera selection, film selection, metering and exposure methodology, development process, and finally, the print process.

It's so very exciting to see the pre-visualization of the scene come to life in the final print.

Heartland - Texas Hill Country

I spent a few months in Austin and wandered a bit through the Texas Hill Country. The terrain is quite a bit different from that of the areas I have called 'home' which have always been near large bodies of water; the Pacific, the Great Lakes, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Atlantic.

The waves in this image of the Hill Country were created by a sea of tall grasses and the horizon was cut by the branches of a lone tree instead of sails on a tall mast. For those who have wondered if I ever use a palette containing anything beyond monochrome.

Floridays + Mangroves

There is a beautiful symbiosis amongst the microbes, plants, and animals of the Florida shorelines within the communities of red mangroves. The numerous feeding and spawning fish and nesting water birds that live within the sprawling roots of the mangroves make for delightful viewing on any day along the shores.

Peaches + Pecans - New Heartland Image

I'm rather partial to small towns, having grown up with cornfields bordering my backyard, and love to explore the backroads and byways.

This image of a peaches and pecans farmer's shed during the off-season was created close to sundown on a wintery day, as evidenced by the grey wisps of clouds in the sky.

River of Grass Revisited

I recently re-read Marjory Stoneman Douglas' book, "The Everglades River of Grass," which was first published in 1947. I was particularly interested in the Afterword titled "Forty More Years of Crisis" which was published in 1987, forty years after the first publication. In 1987, Ms. Stoneman Douglas, at 98 years of age, was still a tireless supporter of the River of Grass and still seeking to educate more people about this fragile ecosystem upon which all of southern Florida relies so much, yet understands so little.

I have been a visitor to Florida since the 1960's and a resident since the 1970's and, like Ms. Stoneman Douglas, have watched as Florida has continuously vanished before my eyes under concrete, landfills, and pavement. It is so ironic that Florida politicians, who seem to know no other commerce than tourism, are so Hell-bent on destroying the natural beauty and the natural ecosystem of the state, the very things which are the real Florida.

Shame on them for doing so and shame on us for allowing it to happen again and again and again.

The 'Other' Side of the Atlantic

The erosion of the coastline is a constant losing battle of man vs. nature and nature's overwhelming force always wins. Although Hurricane Sandy's immediate effect was hundreds of miles away from the Florida coastline, the significant erosion of the shoreline is testament to the powerful effects of that devastating storm.

A New Image for the Heartland Series

North Carolina offers hundreds of winding back country roads through small towns that are filled with photographs waiting to be created; just like this one of an old sharecroppers cabin.

New 'Heartland' Image for the New Year

I love the panoramic view of the Hasselblad X-pan camera; the ratio reminds me of shooting a PanaVision movie camera with all of the compositional idiosyncrasies and nuances.

This image from the 'Heartland' series was captured on a side street in Raleigh, North Carolina.