I have no ability to draw even a straight line. No talent for painting at all. I marvel at the wonders that others create with pen and ink, brushes and paint and all manners of other tools of the craft.
My involvement in photography started off as a form of occupational therapy that gave me some control of my daily life. Prior to that I had dedicated many years of my life to helping a friend and client to become a recording artist. I loved music and I loved my friend’s voice and I felt that I could get great joy not from any possible record deal or financial reward but just from the sheer enjoyment of hearing that special voice. Late into the project I came to realize that my client felt none of the passion and vision that consumed me and in fact I was the artist in the project. I fought to create songs, to enthuse other’s, and to sell a vision. I had all the passion and enthusiasm but the tragedy was that I could not sing. Sad to say the talent had gone to the wrong person and my efforts turned to dust.
I turned to photography as a form of giving gifts to myself and finding some small pleasure from my own efforts. I had no lessons or mentors. I spent hours reading photography books and finding it all very difficult. I was always rushing to the lab to get my latest shoot developed and amazed when a picture or two out of a roll of film actually came out properly exposed!
Slowly I began to rebuild my fractured ego and develop a sense of purpose, confidence and joy. I persevered with the books and began to understand concepts and bend them to my own design. I began to develop an eye that saw light and shade in ways that had never occurred to me and I began to interact with other’s and develop new friendships.
To this day I am uncomfortable with the word artist. Perhaps that’s understandable since I came from a business background where logic and commerce were the dominant influences rather than emotion and manual labour.
But I look at my artistic work today with a great deal of satisfaction, pride and some wonder. I know that out of much darkness I have reached into my soul and conveyed feelings of joy and passion through my own efforts rather than having enjoyed them vicariously through another.
My work has constant signatures that reflect my sensibilities and interests from early childhood. My love of vivid colors, history, dance, intrigue, mystery, strength and, no doubt my fascination with the opposite sex. The old cliché is that it’s all in your eye as an artist but of course it’s really about your mind and how you feel about things that is the driving force of the whole process.
It is easy to shoot but extraordinarily hard to be original. I have toiled alone for many years and have reached a point where I can enjoy a sense of completion. I have created a unique body of work that has great integrity, originality and range. I have climbed my mountain and deserve to enjoy the view.
