“The Divine Woman”

Series of 16×19″ Van Dyke Brown process prints on Stonehenge Natural paper.

Appropriating a similar aesthetic and symbolism to the turn-of-the-century photographers (Julia Margeret Cameron, Fox Talbot, Clarence Hudson White), my goal was to illustrate/question a few of the prevalent Victorian virtues in regards to women. At the time of early photography, Pre-Raphaelite paintings were reinforcing the mans’ ideal woman, giving art at the time a male gaze. The text is taken directly from Victorian sayings and virtues that originally derived from the context of Biblical passages.

8.5×11″ Van Dyke Brown test prints on Stonehenge Cream paper

Tiny practice things for something that I’m working on.

Cyanotype process prints

7×9″ each, made from digital transparency negatives

These are 7 minute pinhole exposures taken with a homemade tin camera. I wanted to photograph couples for a project since long exposures force two people to be still with each other, turning the attention to breathing and time passing, similar to meditation.

The images were taken on 5×7 RC paper and developed to make a negative, then contact printed on RC paper again.

“Picture Music”

All of the sounds for this project were recorded/created by me and layered together in Audacity. One night of late poking around lead me to discover that you can import images into the program and each image has it’s own unique electronic sound. The sounds were mostly composed from my recent darkroom scans and projects, so it was neat to “hear” what my pictures sounded like (I used around 10 pictures for the electric noises.) The more high resolution the files, the more interesting and long in duration the sounds were.

Tableau Vivant I

The purpose of this project was to compose a scene how we would compose a photograph, and record it as a video that built up to a greater action. What I like most about tableau’s is that it forces the viewer to look at the “image” for a long period of time, and start to notice subtle things like body language, lighting, and breathing that might not be apparent when looking at a still for a few seconds…

Tableau Vivant II

Another short tableau, focusing on incorporating external lights.

“Sleeping State”

Never stop feeling and seeing,

and being excited with great things like air and engines,

and sounds of sunlight within you.

- Richard Bach

“Caleb’s Curiosities” was an ongoing project last semester for one of my photo classes, and the final that was turned in was a 12×12 hardcover book. My little brother is an excitable boy who will usually first talk to you first with dinosaur grunts before saying anything else, and he has a growing penchant for collecting all things miniature, strange, and eclectic. The fourth picture from the bottom is of the remains of a huge birds nest that he spent 2 years building, and it’s just one of the many curious things that have occupied his mind. It makes me sad to think that in a couple years he might cross over the threshold and these things won’t be fascinating anymore, so it’s partly my sense of nostalgia that motivates me to constantly photograph him.

Of cloudless climes and starry skies;

And all that’s best of dark and bright