The camera is my faithful companion.
My first camera was a Brownie when I was a kid - I even had a dark room (without running water) in my bedroom closet. The photos were typical family shots, camp, Christmas, etc. I don't remember what became of the camera, but when my sister and I took our first trip to Europe, our father lent us his Canon range finder, and I started my travel photo collection. Then when I got my first professional job, I bought a point and shoot, and then a light weight Pentax. My cameras became a little more sophisticated, but my eye did not. Then, the digital revolution arrived, and no longer having to worry about the cost of film, my photography became more imaginative.
When Photoshop came into my life, I became more adventuresome. At this point, my work is technically photography, but I now think of myself as more of a graphic artist who uses a camera as a tool. I find myself drawn to a variety of subjects, including cycles and museum goers (I look for some resonance between a particular work of art and the dress or person viewing the work). Sometimes what appeals is the atmosphere of a place. Other times, it is simply a pattern of colors in the scene before me. It gives me great pleasure to take these photos and to try to make them appealing to the eyes of others. For the past couple of years, I have been creating photomontages: a new image created from blending several photographs together. Sometimes the connection between the photographs is obvious, sometimes not, but in each I have sought to combine images with some thematic connection between them.
