See more in the Abstract Gallery
I’ve been a photographer for 15 years. Being born and bred in Vancouver, `my fate was to be active in the outdoors: hiking and backpacking, ocean rowing, cycling, scuba diving, skiing cross-country and downhill, even prospecting in “the tulies”. Or, equally likely, dozing on a sunny rock.
Though I live only ten minutes from downtown, eagles soar over my back yard, raccoons and skunks squabble in the night, and herons sit on my chimney. Really. This is Canada, after all. (Land of mystery and art. You’d be amazed. Trust me.)
Although I pay the mortgage by consulting on the design and review of science and technology programs, my first love (and second career) is as a nature photographer.
All prints are of exhibition-quality. They are made on Fujiflex Supergloss™ paper which has outstanding colour saturation and a wonderful “wet” look. They are highly resistant to fading, and will accept display in bright light (e.g., from a south window), although any photo prefers somewhat gentler light.
They are as close to archival quality as photographic materials get. In typical use they are expected to last 25 – 100 years (but haven’t been around long enough to test this!). Unfortunately, the raw cost is several times that of “normal” prints.
Handling: Supergloss™ prints are soft and very sensitive to handling. They scratch easily and spot instantly from liquids, so don’t breathe too close to them!. Do not try to laminate them (e.g., to foamboard) because they will warp. Carry framed pictures “top up” to keep the print from buckling.
Signing: All prints are initialled by the photographer.
All images are all “real”: no special effects, digital tricks, or weird filters have been used. Yes, yes, old-fashioned hooey, except see "The Why of It".
Some photos are highly-realistic, some completely abstract. Others meld the two. Sometimes they are not what they seem, but I’m not telling.
I am passionate about nature and our connection to it. I believe that our humanity is choked if we lose it, or misuse it, or simply ignore it. We need to recognize and revel in our bone-deep, sensual connection to nature. Bored yet? Heard it all before, blah, blah, blah?? Yes, yes, I know, tedious and tendentious.
Hold on, though. This position isn’t a moral stance (although morality plays a part). Our nature is rooted in palaeontology, evolution, history, and culture, and these natural roots are sunk deep into our very genes, our bodies, even our emotions. As much as our guts and bodies die without the bacteria we need to digest our food, we wither without a link to nature. But surrounded by cell phones and concrete, it’s easy to lose this truth. It’s hard to see and harder to value what’s already disappeared. Maybe worse, it’s easy to ignore what remains. Forget about paving paradise with parking lots, we’ve started thinking parking lots -- air conditioned! -- are paradise.
Photography is one of my links to nature. These photos reflect my love of the beauty in nature, both obvious and hidden. Sometimes, of course, beauty is in plain sight. But often it conceals itself -- in trash, under tangled brush, in chaos, in the most mundane and common things.
We now know that many complex physical and biological structures and systems can be described as overlapping, interacting chaotic systems. If we ignore the messiness of nature, we lose appreciation for its inherent strength and beauty. Thus many of my photos deliberately avoid “perfection -- I believe that perfection misses the point.
