Artist's Statement: "Self-Portraits"
Perhaps not surprising given a background in acting, there is a strong “performance” aspect to my self-portraiture. Typically, I hike through the woods and look for a visually complex location where I might place my body. I set up my tripod, mount the camera, check its exposure and focus, and then when the moment seems right I trip the camera’s timer and place myself into the “scene.” With the aid of the appropriately-termed self-timer, I participate in my own photos by interacting with the organic forms of the woods--a craggy rock, a mountain stream, or the twisting branches of a tree—during the ten seconds that my old manual Rolleiflex allows.
Ultimately, I am unaware of how the final image will turn out: I can hyper-control the picture’s “framing,” but in the end I can only approximate where my body or limbs will actually wind up when the shutter opens and the negative is exposed. There are a lot of mistakes and near misses in this process, but in the best images I hope I’ve achieved a balance between control and improvisation.
Ultimately, I am unaware of how the final image will turn out: I can hyper-control the picture’s “framing,” but in the end I can only approximate where my body or limbs will actually wind up when the shutter opens and the negative is exposed. There are a lot of mistakes and near misses in this process, but in the best images I hope I’ve achieved a balance between control and improvisation.
