It’s been two months since I last updated the blog.  I knew when I started this thing there would be down times of little to no activity.  That’s not to say I have been idle in my thoughts and creations.  If anything, I’ve been very active with shooting and the general thought process of creating my images.

Several months ago I started a project which involved the use of different materials, used in a shroud-like manner, to capture portraits.  My idea was nothing more than to utilize the material so as not to have to rely on the models wardrobe.  As this process has grown I have been told there is a biblical quality to the portraits, this is no doubt because of our historic reference to biblical art.  I can assure you, this was not my intention.

I often wonder how much of artistic interpretation comes from the viewer and less from the creator.  When I set out to do this series, my vision was greatly influenced by the painters of the Dutch Golden Age.  The quality of light used by Rembrandt and Vermeer is absolutely beautiful and I wanted nothing more than to create my own images utilizing that quality of light.  Of course, the idea was not to recreate any of those paintings in a photographic sense but to only use them as inspiration.

In the past I have talked about that which inspires me.  Inspirations comes to me in many different ways; the music I hear, the images I see, the conversations I have, the smells that linger in my living space.  The greatest of inspirations come from the people I photograph.  I try my best to involve, those I work with, in the creative process.  A very limited few catch on and usually only work with me once, maybe twice.  Those that do latch on to the collaboration may do so for a limited amount of time, a few months, maybe a year.  I’ve yet to find a true muse.

Timing is everything.  Finding someone to be with in that sort of way is rare if not illusive.

Maybe my timing is in synch now.

[link]