Chiaroscuro

'You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm'.....Colette

Working through my black and white Point and Shoot series has me thinking of the photographers who influenced me when I first got into photography. I clearly remember the first time I saw Ralph Gibson's book 'Chiaroscuro' and became immediately intoxicated with his high contrast, grainy images.

Ralph Gibson would pull you into his  images using grain, contrast and texture.  Starting out as a photojournalist, he claimed,  caused him to have a lifelong relationship with grain. Additionally, and unbeknown to me until today, he worked with Robert Frank (another early influence with his book, The Americans) on a film in 1969, Me and My Brother,  starring Allen Ginsburg.

It has been quite rewarding for me to look back on these early black and white days  - not sure what prompted this but happy that it happened. Opens yet another dialog in my head regarding the direction of my work.

The image in the header is a scan from an original 12X20 black and white negative. 

Death Valley

Dunes, Stovepipe Wells, Death Valley

One thing being on the road allows for is time to look around the hard drives for images that have been passed over before. Why I am running around the country with all these hard drives is a separate blog but I am happy to have 80-% of my files out here - specifically on a lazy Sunday afternoon while watching football games.

The image today is from last March in the Dunes just outside of Stovepipe Wells. Processing dunes is always a challenge for me - I find myself pushing the envelope to get where I want to go. This one is all texture - all the time....not really sure how I feel about it yet - might take a few more days.

On another note an image I captured up in Maine earlier this year won first prize in the Artistic Category of the 2ND Annual Pogo Art Contest..the image it self was captured and processed in the IPhone 4...