October 09 – December 09, 2007

I am a twenty year resident of Baltimore having relocated here in 1987 from Columbus, Ohio. For the past six years I’ve been an RN in GI Medicine/Hepatology here at UMMS.

I’ve been pursuing photography for about the past five years. While I’ve been a snap shooter most of my life, it all got serious when my partner Alan gave me a digital point and shoot camera as a gift. Under his tutelage, I quickly embraced digital photography as an art form. A short time later, I discovered the beauty of traditional film photography and tend to do my best work on film. I’ve since amassed a sizable camera collection ranging from 35 mm rangefinders to medium and large format. I have a large collection of older toy and junk cameras that have their own unique image making qualities. I use a Minolta digital SLR for my digital work. All of my film work is developed and then scanned into the computer for further refinements and printing. I like this kind of hybrid process for the beautiful tones of traditional films with the control of digital post processing. I continue to explore new ways to make images using both old and new technologies.

This exhibition has both current and past work, spanning the past five years. On one wall is a series of photographs taken at Fort Armistead in Baltimore. This is an old fort that is completely covered in successive layers of graffiti. I found the vibrant colors and textures fascinating. Expression is being simultaneously created while destroying what’s underneath. The end result becomes a kind of collaboration although the individuals are not present at the same time. The collective work of these unknowns if further abstracted by the act of capturing small details.

Another section of the exhibit is photographs taken near the medical center. These were made with various film, digital and toy cameras. I have a habit of carrying a camera with me and often find interesting pictures on my walk to and from the parking garage and lunchtime strolls around the medical center.

The three larger square photographs were taken at a farm in Howard County that houses some of what’s left of the old Enchanted Forest just West of Baltimore. Many Baltimore residents remember these fairytale characters from childhood.  These were taken with the plastic Diana toy camera.  I like the dreamy quality of the cheap plastic lens on this camera and the unpredictable results, as this camera has no real controls on it.

The final section is a collection of favorite images over the past few years.  Many of these have been displayed and sold at Hon Fest in Hampden.

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