artist statement

“Photographs appeared to be reliably distinguishable from other types of images.  They were comfortably regarded as casually generated truthful reports about things in the real world, unlike more traditionally crafted images, which seemed notoriously ambiguous and uncertain human constructions—realizations of ineffable representational intentions.”

-- William J. Mitchell¹

Present day, the photograph itself has had one of its main characteristics challenged: believability.

Since the camera’s introduction, photography has assumed many roles in our culture. Most notably, it represented a sense of reality: that seeing is believing, and if an image were ‘caught on film’ then it must be true. As Henry Fox Talbot noted, ‘the Pencil of Nature’ rendered light and shadow without prejudice, or the error of the human hand. The results were scientific truth, and not an artist’s imitation. Since then, photography has both fulfilled and fueled our appetite for an immediate, true-to-life likeness of everything. It has changed our view of the ‘real’ world. With the introduction of the computer and digital imaging, the photograph’s credibility has almost been nullified. Now when one looks at a remarkable image they first wonder how it was done, instead of accepting it as a truth. Photography has moved squarely into the realm of contemporary mainstream art, but more importantly reaffirmed the prominence and credibility of technology in art.

When you view my work I hope that my craftsmanship is sufficient enough to make you not question the process, but believe in the image.

Notes

1. William J. Mitchell, The Reconfigured Eye: Visual Truth in the Post Photographic Era (Cambridge, Mass, and London: MIT Press, 1992), p.225.