SleepyOwl
Introspective moment.
Best viewed at the original size. Slide show size/enlargement will distort.
Artist statement:
I took most of these portraits of family members, friends, and strangers almost forty years ago. And after all these years they still strongly evoke for me vivid memories of a moment in time. My way of working was/is to only take one or two shots of my subject. At the time I was using a twin-lens reflex camera (except where noted) with a fine lens, and I processed the film myself and made my own prints in a somewhat primitive darkroom in the corner of our basement. I think that that personalized extra involvement and effort of working so intimately processing and post processing each photo helped to sear and imprint those memories, that moment in time, even more deeply into my psyche. Sometimes it is difficult to discern between the "value" of a portrait that has "personal" meaning and the value of that portrait to the viewer who has no previous connection to the person in the portrait. As the artist/photographer I can not be totally objective, but I would like to think that these portraits have a universal appeal because of the "humanity" depicted. I hope so, anyway.
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I like the way the perspective of the camera's lens unites the man in the foreground with the man in soft-focus behind him.
September 1975. New Jersey
Cropped, 35mm negative.
Introspective moment.
Best viewed at the original size. Slide show size/enlargement will distort.
Artist statement:
I took most of these portraits of family members, friends, and strangers almost forty years ago. And after all these years they still strongly evoke for me vivid memories of a moment in time. My way of working was/is to only take one or two shots of my subject. At the time I was using a twin-lens reflex camera (except where noted) with a fine lens, and I processed the film myself and made my own prints in a somewhat primitive darkroom in the corner of our basement. I think that that personalized extra involvement and effort of working so intimately processing and post processing each photo helped to sear and imprint those memories, that moment in time, even more deeply into my psyche. Sometimes it is difficult to discern between the "value" of a portrait that has "personal" meaning and the value of that portrait to the viewer who has no previous connection to the person in the portrait. As the artist/photographer I can not be totally objective, but I would like to think that these portraits have a universal appeal because of the "humanity" depicted. I hope so, anyway.
-----------------------------------------------------
I like the way the perspective of the camera's lens unites the man in the foreground with the man in soft-focus behind him.
September 1975. New Jersey
Cropped, 35mm negative.