Make-believe



Make Believe is a culmination of my journey through years of images I have shot on locations around the world. My original concept for the series was to combine images of nature with nudes shot in the studio to create bodyscapes. After completing several images like this, the project has been, and continues to be, a journey. Veering from the original plan, I began to use urban images of graffiti, buildings, reflections, as well as other things that interest me and combined them with images of nude and costumed models made in the studio. I sometimes also feel the images shot in the studio work independent of combining with others after merging them with textures and post production editing work. Several of these images are also presented as part of the series.



I call this series Make Believe because I am creating new worlds and re-imagining photographs using my digital darkroom. When working with models we undertake a creative journey together; I paint an idea and they pretend, or “make-believe,” they are in different situations, locations and anticipations. We use props such as masks, found objects, costumes, and fabric to help play out the inner storyline. My hope is for the viewer to try to see beyond the obvious and imagine a story, a place, and a moment in time. I encourage the thought that the stories are not the same for every viewer as the viewer ads their own experience and imagination to personalize the piece as they view it.



Although some may say an image only takes a sixtieth of a second to capture, that is just the beginning of my work. I spend the majority of my time with my images using my digital darkroom, an important element of my process. By digital darkroom I am referring to the post production work I do combining layers of images and using various manipulative techniques and filters in Photoshop.



Over the years my photographic art has been influenced by many artists and photographers such as Salvador Dali, Vincent Van Gough, Pablo Picasso, Paul Gauguin, Francis Bacon, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Jerry Uelsmann, Ralph Gibson and Elliot Erwitt. Of course there are many more and I continue to be influenced by the work I see daily of artists and photographers as well as film and television which also have a profound effect on me and my work.



My work is my journey and it reveals itself to me daily. It evolves, it is a process, and it continues. It lives. It is me.