MY PHOTOGRAPHIC VISION

At ten, my parents acceded to my endless pleas for art lessons. Oil painting remained integral to my life for the next two decades and beyond. Indeed, I seem always to have had "artistic" outlets - first oil painting, later gardening - even though by profession I became a highly-trained, more-than-full-time international economist. By the late 1990's, I'd reached a crossroads. I knew that at least one of the street names related to the arts.

Photography seemed a natural extension of my painter's eye. For me, photography is analogous to John Chiardi's view of outlining. Years ago, in the Saturday Review, Chiardi explained his difficulty with the concept of outlining. He did not outline. Instead he drafted. His first draft was as close as he came to an outline. Each draft captured additional detail and deepened thought, filling in the outline he never did.

Similarly, I find a subject - close up or distant, rural or urban - I delve into its patterns, large and small. Repeated lines and curves attract me, whether fall leaves or ornate constructions. A creature of habit, I return again and again to the same places, often to the same subjects. Each time I refocus, new aspects appear and I capture new images.

MY PHOTO TOOLBOX

When I work with film, which is most of the time, I do all my own printing, both in color and in black & white. For me, the camaraderie and intellectual stimulation of the Smithsonian's darkroom and the relationships that evolve through it are further spurs to creativity. Of late, I have added some digital tools: when, as seems inevitable, "art" images appear while I am focused more on the family and friends I am photographing, I take the shot anyhow. Some of those shots have indeed proven worth printing digitally.

I use several cameras and lenses, my choices depending on subject and situation. For years, my 35mm images have been shot with the Nikon F100 that has been my standby; my go-to lens is the Nikkor 60mm which allows both macro and distant views. Most of my square images were taken with a Hasselblad 503CW, although I sometimes use a Holga. In 2009, I added a medium-format Mamiya 645 to my options. And in 2011, I took up a long-term loan of a beautiful 4x5 field camera and began working with a small group of friends; I usually print these images full-frame, but sometimes crop them to focus more closely on the subject.

Only recently have I entered the 21st century, adding a Nikon D700 to my tool box. I use it mostly for family and event work, saving the art shots that I capture en route for treatment in Photoshop.