In the winter of 2015, a few months after buying a professional Sony camera, I purchased a macro lens and set out to learn macro photography and focus stacking. I began with a crumpled-up metal artifact I found at the construction site of the old Indian River Inlet Bridge (formally known as the Charles W. Cullen Bridge). I was fascinated with the folds, texture and color. My friend, Sam Ellis, invited me to photograph it in his studio. I’m still not sure if he thought I was crazy (probably), but he knew how important it was for me to find a distraction from the early days of back issues and intense and unrelenting pain. He knew something I didn’t, and I am grateful for the encouragement.
We spent a few hours playing with different types of lighting and testing technique. I was looking for composition that was abstract and transcended the metal itself. I was never really sure if anyone else would see what I did in the images, understand the importance and symbolism, or just appreciate the abstract qualities. But for me, the result fully satisfied my curiosity and I’ve told many people that if they were the last images I ever created, I’d be happy. But they weren’t the last images, and I was hooked. I went on to invest in more state-of-the-art technologies to perfect my technique and have enjoyed doing a number on projects and have received some positive recognition for my images.
Recently, I decided to share the metal images as a diptych and submitted them to the 8th Regional Juried Biennial Exhibition at the Rehoboth Art League. Forty-seven works were selected from 375 submissions, and I was thrilled to find out that two of my submissions were accepted including the metal images. At the show opening (August 7th, 2018), the judge announced that my Relic of the 1965 Cullen Bridge (Views 1 & 2) was chosen as one of three Awards of Excellence.
In 2017, my image, Fall Maple Leaf #1, won the Grand Champion award in the Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art 2017 Art in Nature Photo Competition. Both experiences have served as important milestones in my journey of healing, exploring, creating images, and sharing my vision. Thank you to Sam for the encouragement, and the Rehoboth Art League for the opportunity! Congratulations to the other artists who participated, those who were also recognized and the artist who one best in show. Now it’s time to create some images!
