12/6/09

What I Saw

Over the past few weeks I have been busy with many things. As it seems, my time here is flying by and before I know it this will all be a memory or like a dream. The proof I will have beyond that dream will be photographs. I always carry my camera with me and am curious about documenting what is before me while I am here right now. There are times when I am photographing quite often and other times when there is not so much, but I find that I’m always thinking about it in rather obsessive ways. These first few images were made on a few walks to show the beauty of the city. This time of year when the weather gets cold there is clarity to the light that I like and I continue to be fascinated by the architecture I see.

There is a park I walk through each day and I am producing a few series of images. This is‘before & after’ the daily cleaning of the park.

One of my favorite photographers from the mid/late 1800’s is Felix Nadar. His work is on display at the Galerija Klovicevi dvori here in Zagreb. When I saw the posters across from the gallery I felt as though I stepped back in time to the early 1900’s when he may have had his first exhibition in Zagreb.

Throughout the next few weeks I was curious how he and his work fits into contemporary culture.

The weather has changed and the cold (and colds) are here.

As I have for many years I made an image of the first snow fall of the season. The idea came while I was still in high school and I was in the library at Mount Lebanon High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I knew I would remember that moment the rest of my life. I recall feeling the cold as well as the excitement at the possibility of the world turning white before my eyes. It has always amazed me how photographs can be triggers of memories. The image becomes a window I can go through to access thoughts and emotions from long ago. Now, this memory will be a trigger in the future.

I was in the country with some colleagues a few weeks ago. The landscape reminds me of where I live in New York with the soft rolling hills. This time of year most of the color is away but some is introduced by our being there.

My colleague Sandra Vitaljic is in the last few days of preparing a major exhibition of exciting new work that deals with wars from the past in the surrounding areas. She is making conceptual images of landscapes for the exhibition entitled ‘Infertile Grounds’. There will be about 25 images from locations where atrocities took place dating back to the 1500's. Her subtle visions give a message of our inhuman treatment to each other without regard to which side you are on. Many of the sites are unmarked and some of the remains are yet to be exhumed.

Having presented many exhibitions in my career these photographs show the exasperation one feels as the opening draws near and there is much to do. They were made as some of the work was brought into the gallery and we had a discussion about all of the final details that need attention.