photo by NVML
One of One
More than an idea, it has become a sort of mantra. Three little words mean so much to me.
There are many ways to describe a photographer. Lens based artists, visual artist, documentarian, photojournalist. But one that seems overlooked and the one that I relate to is digital artist. My tool, like many other tools artists use, have evolved from analog to digital. I would liken a pinhole camera and the charcoal end of a stick, to todays Apple pencils and digital cameras. But it leaves me with an interesting dilemma. At the end of the day, all I have created is data and am only sharing this “data” in small form, a few inches at a time, on digital platforms. It’s not all that different from developing a roll of film and only ever showing the contact sheets. To say this was less than satisfying would be accurate. What am I to do? I want to bring art into the world. So I print. But printing photographs is nothing new, and the standard for how a photograph lives its printed life has not changed very much.
What has changed is the need to go through a chemical process. We again have a technological shift of using a device to apply pigment to a surface. This got me wondering, why I am still relying on paper? (more on that below). Don’t get me wrong, I happened to love spending time in the dark room as a teen. It’s where I learned about the intimate relationship one forms with an image while watching it emerge on photo paper with developer sloshing over it. I feel that way still using editing tools available to me now. There is a deep sense of comfort I get from having access to my entire collection of work. And isn’t that a strange thing? It makes me think about painters, performers, sculptors and the like. For others to experience their artworks, they don’t get to keep it. They have to give of themselves in a way I don’t have to. A painting has to leave the studio and never be seen again, or a performance by a dancer who leaves everything on stage. Therein lies the question that I asked myself over and over… “how do I give of my heart the way they do?”
Many photographers have adopted an open edition, print on demand model. And I can see why, there are services out there designed to help photographers (and other digital creators) do just that. Upload your files, set your prices and people can order and have prints, pillows, coasters, keychains and all the other things shipped directly to them. But I envision my work as so much more. I believe I can push the idea of what fine art photography can be. This male dominated industry has been relying on the same formula for a century. And I know I can be more creative than that. Not only are my prints breaking the print mold, I’m also adopting a single edition model for my large scale fine art pieces. It may sound strange, but this is my sacrifice, this is me giving my performance 110%. It’s my dedication to my craft and commitment to continually create. That is after all what I enjoy most about creating images. The drive to experience unique moments, and the challenge of finding them in unlikely places. The light, the weather, the time of year, most of the circumstances I find myself in can’t be repeated and I believe the person who brings a piece of my art into their space should get to share in that enjoyment.
One moment. One print. One of One
“I thought it was a painting”
You’ve never experienced photography this way. I will tell you a quick story about the first time I hung my work in an art show. It solidified my belief that I am not only doing something special, but that I have to forge this path.
Forgo the glass
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