I was attracted to the medium of photography in my first year at art school. There was an immediacy of communication in photographs that was intriguing - I found they could convey aesthetic sensibility with personal expression and address larger ideas that were of interest to me. My images are typically of the commonplace - the world before me as I discover it, without staging or manipulation. They examine and document the evolving Long Island landscape - in particular the interaction of the natural world with the man-made one - an often uneasy co-existence. This exploration of our mutual connectivity and interdependence is what interests me and informs my work. As such, the images serve as metaphors and observations of our presence in this place, at this time.
Series notes:
In situ
Nature has the ability to connect us to a broader awareness of ourselves. Trees and plant life predates us - an essential part of the carbon cycle, they follow primordial genetic code for existence and survival, they evolve and adapt - shaped by light, water and the environment. Rooted firmly in earth, often communicating within their species, they reach for the sky to fulfill their potential - like all living things, they are a product of forces both seen and unseen.
Empire Zones
Visual observations within the Empire Zones areas on Long Island. New York State had designated numerous areas within the state for tax-advantaged commercial development, naming them 'Empire Zones'. Accepted practice has been to completely remove the natural landscape and replace it with a new fabricated environment complete with decorative plantings - a process evident in most of Long Island's commercial and residential landscape.
Restricted Access
Markers and boundaries in our environment that have become part of our landscape. Visual or physical barriers installed for privacy, safety, security, containment or exclusion - some intended to keep us out of harm's way, others tell us we don't belong there - they regulate and manage our movement.
The Evanescent
Temperature differences of the land and sea, condensation, natural and man-made particulates in the atmosphere, wind velocity, the position of the sun - combine to create a transient visual landscape that can change quickly, often in minutes. The series is comprised of images made at various times of day over a six month period from a fixed camera position, observing the Connecticut coastline from twenty miles across the Long Island Sound.
Terminus
An end point of a journey, a transitional state or a transfer from one place to another. It often seems that one thing has to end for another to begin. “The terminus is not an end point but the energy of a beginning.” Erin Manning, Relationscapes: Movement, Art, Philosophy