Portraits

Please scroll through the Portraits to read my thoughts on the photographs.

In the beginning of photography it could take over an hour to expose a single photograph.  Portraiture was almost impossible the first few years of photography.   Within a short period of time and with a great deal experimentation exposure times were reduced significantly to a few minutes.  This gave photographers the ability to market their images to the masses.  The advancements in short exposure times created an industry with galleries popping up all over the country.

I am attracted to the motion of my subjects. I love them set against still backdrop of the scene.  While at Parsons I did a series of images shot in the post offices around New York City. The architecture ranged from renovated 1970s buildings to some of the great Art Deco interiors WPA murals decorating the walls.  In these images I would set my Hasselblad on the floor or on a table. I would then take a shot with a five to ten second exposure.  The large rooms were crowded, this would allow ghosts to roam my images much like many of the finest early daguerreotype scenes. 

Currently when I photograph people on the street I often like to move my camera and force both the subject and the environment to shift together.  I do this by moving the camera on purpose. To achieve this I often shoot at night and sometimes use a neutral density filter or a super low ASA in conjunction with a high aperture. I find with the techniques I use in lightroom, I am able to get intriguing images that captivate the viewer. My first goal is to intrigue the viewer, I want to be asked, “how?”

Purchases

You can purchase any of these images by clicking here. Before clicking on the link, please make note of the specific images you like.