My first photographic love was exploring the discipline and challenges of seeing the world in black and white. The second was mastering the darkroom skills I employ to control tonality, contrast, and other aesthetic properties of a silver-based print. The way monochromatic art emphasizes composition and adds an element of abstraction is enticing. In the first image of this portfolio (Madrona Bark), is that tree bark, paper, or fabric?
My favorite black-and-white photographer is Edward Weston. His contact prints glow with an unsurpassed luminosity. The image Cascade Falls in this portfolio was taken with a Deardorff view camera, like Weston’s, on 4 x 5" Tri-X film with a 30-second time exposure at an aperture of f/64.
Several photographs, Buckhorn Beach, Old Man, Buddha and Child, were included in the Tacoma Art Museum’s juried group exhibit Photography 1975, my first group show. Others, Madrona Bark, Cascade Falls, Irene, were exhibited at the Odlin Gallery at Whitman College in Walla Walla in 1976 as part of my first solo show. This edit of 12 photos was first displayed at the Living Room Gallery in Eastsound in December 2004.
While nothing can replace the tactile, analog experience of chemical film processing and photo printing with an optical enlarger—the end results are uniquely beautiful—I prefer the flexibility of modern, digital tools. Today’s pigment-based, inkjet printing technology, in tandem with the software I use to creatively transform a digital file into a fine-art print, yield impressive results with superior longevity. Properly framed and displayed, these prints will last for centuries.
A unique aspect of madrona bark is that a thin layer peals off every year to enable new growth.
Due to a long taproot madronas can stay standing long after dying.
A long exposure gives a dreamy look to the rapids below.
This long-exposure photo reveals the paths of bubbles swirling in a fast-moving stream on Mt. Rainier.
Late-evening light rakes the sandstone bluff at Buckhorn Beach.
My friend, Giselle, during a quite moment in the Blue Mountains, near Walla Walla.
This portrait of my friend, Irene, is inspired by the Dutch painter Vermeer.
An old man illuminated by a window in an otherwise dark temple in Taipei.
Enjoying a walk on a beautiful spring day on Orcas Island.
The spray from Palouse Falls creates this lunar look on the canyon walls.
The Olympic Lodge on Orcas Island, circa 1985