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.

Floridays - Juno Beach, Florida

There's something rejuvenating about simply walking along the beach in the early morning. The sunlight filtering through the clouds, the gentle rhythm of the waves, and the salty breeze combine to wash away the cares (and carousing) of the night before and refresh the mind at the start of a new day.

A New Floridays Image

I love serendipity in my photographic explorations - coming across unexpected subjects such as this castaway bench by the Florida Gulf coast. Very often, I will set out, camera in hand, with one idea in mind and then - wham - something presents itself that just begs to be photographed and suddenly all pre-formed ideas are swept aside.

STEM + ART = STEAM

It is time for politicians and educational institutions to realize that creativity is required to solve the complex challenges society faces, and that Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) alone are not enough. The flexible thinking, risk taking, and creative problem-solving techniques that are taught through Art and Design are needed for innovation in today's changing world.

I wholeheartedly encourage the support of House Resolution 319: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that adding Art and Design into Federal programs that target the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields encourages innovation and economic growth in the United States.

That's why I signed a petition to The United States House of Representatives on this very subject.

Want to sign this petition? Click here:

http://signon.org/sign/support-stem-to-steam?source=s.em.cp&r_by=6144681

Thanks for supporting the ARTS!

A Conversation with the Artist at the FMoPA

"We live in a world where there is more and more information, and less and less meaning." ~ Jean Baudrillard, 'Simulacra and Simulations,' 1988

In 1917, under the pseudonym R. Mutt, the French artist and champion of the Dadaist movement, Marcel Duchamp, challenged and shocked the Art World with his submission of 'Fountain' to the Society of Independent Artists exhibit, forever changing the perception of Art. In the latter part of the 20th Century, the Digital Revolution, with its bits and bytes and ones and zeros, forever changed the processes and the media in which art could be created. Photography has been squarely caught in this rapidly evolving landscape of digital capture with an accelerating distancing and removal of the physical contact between the artist and his media of geometric proportions.

As part of the ongoing museum series "The Individual's Opinion - The Photographer's View" at the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, "A Conversation with the Artist David Durbak" will be presented on the evening of July 10, 2012, and I will be discussing the impact of digital capture on the art of the hand in photography. I hope you can join me in downtown Tampa, Florida, at FMoPA for an interactive conversation.

New Year, New Series - The Atlantic

It's been a practice of mine to always create new photography on New Year's Day, part of an old family superstition that states whatever you're doing on New Year's Day, you'll be doing for the rest of that year.

This might be a keeper for a new series which I've titled 'The Atlantic' that will be an on-going series for which I'll be creating new imagery for what I imagine to be quite some number of years. I've always loved and been attracted to water; whether the oceans, lakes, rivers, or streams. This series allows me to be creating within that element once again.