Bio:
A self-taught photographer, I started taking photos casually 40 years ago and became more serious once I retired in 2005. When I traveled on business (I was a business executive and consultant with an international clientele) I took photos wherever I went; London, Amsterdam, Sydney, New York, Boston. I still have a camera handy and take photos whenever I see something that moves me. The result is eclectic (or democratic, as the photographer William Eggleston says) – often nature (I served as a Conservation Commissioner and on the board of a Conservation Trust of Westford Massachusetts) and street photography. I particularly like details that are often overlooked. Most of all I look for surrealism, Wabi-Sabi (the Japanese esthetic) and odd juxtapositions.
In 2009, with partners, I founded a cooperative art gallery, Art On Main, in Westford Massachusetts. I served as Treasurer, and sold many of my framed and matted prints. In addition, my images have been published as cover art and illustrations for cultural and business publications. For several years, I volunteered at The Parish Center for the Arts in Westford Massachusetts, helping to hang the pieces submitted to the Regional Art Event and working with artists who needed help with framing.
In addition, I was Artistic Director for the Westford Conservation Trust annual nature calendar project from 2006 through 2009. In 2008 I was invited to be a member at the Bridge Gallery in Newburyport and showed my work there for two years.
In 2018 I collaborated with poet Al Starkey, providing photography for his book of poems, “Whistling Underwater.” Al and I gave a talk about our collaboration at The Cape Cod Museum of Art.
I was invited to serve on the Curatorial Committee of The Cotuit Center for the Arts in 2018.
Three of my photographs were accepted into the permanent collection of the Cape Cod Museum of Art in 2019.
In December of 2019, my wife and I moved to Olympia Washington, to be close to family and have a new adventure.
Artist Statement:
I rarely travel specifically to photograph, instead, I photograph anywhere I am, including elevators, church, and men’s rooms. With a camera, or no camera, I frame, frame, frame, attempting to freeze a chaotic, ambiguous world. While I enjoy creating images of serenity and order, to me the most successful result is not order from chaos but an ambiguous, intriguing rendition of the chaos and surrealism at the moment the shutter was opened.
I often mount my photos on board, sometimes cradled painter’s panel, or other times Masonite. I coat the mounted photos with varnish. This enables me to exhibit my photos without glass while still protecting the images. In addition to ‘straight photography’, I enjoy making assemblages and collages. I sometimes start with photos and other material mounted on panel, improvising from there.
Influences on my art have come from Robert Rauschenberg: he took in the world and turned out art. He said, “I really feel sorry for people who think things like soap dishes or mirrors or Coke bottles are ugly. Because they’re surrounded by things like that all day long, and it must make them miserable.” Henri Cartier-Bresson, the Master, who said, “Sharpness is a bourgeois concept.” Joel Meyerowitz for the sheer beauty of his eclectic body of work. JR because he is so NOW.
