09-JUN-2007
Red hand, di Rosa Preserve, Napa Valley, California, 2007
This huge ceramic sculpture by the late Viola Frey lies on the grounds of the 217 acre di Rosa Preserve. It is part of a vast collection of contemporary art amassed by collector Rene di Rosa. I was drawn to this piece because of the interplay of light, shadow and color. When art is displayed outdoors, where the light source is always changing, nature itself becomes part of the creative process. In this case, natural light defines the bright red hand most dramatically. By using a spot meter, I expose on the hand, and allow the rest of the image to fall more deeply into shadow. The red hand is shocking – it is as if it was covered in blood. The sculpture itself is recumbent, as if dead or unconscious. The face is in dappled light, muting the red color and putting greater emphasis on the red hand. No matter what the artist’s own intentions may have been, by photographing the sculpture at this time, in this light, and in this manner, I make my own appeal to the imagination.
11-JUN-2007
Pilings, Petaluma River, Petaluma, California, 2007
This image is about contrasting colors on the ends of wet pilings. They were beneath a pier along the Petaluma River, and no longer supporting anything. Most likely, they are remnants of a previous structure. Nature takes its own toll – years of tides have led to the flaking of old paint, and bright green moss commonly found in damp habitats has reinvigorated two of the three pilings. Using a spot meter, I expose for the brightly colored pilings, which causes the underside of the pier behind them to go even darker. The moss brings dead wood to life once again on both the left and right but the piling in the center is diminished in size, without color or vitality – it is nothing more than a decaying stump. The three pilings use contrasting color to tell the story of nature’s winners and losers.
10-FEB-2007
Hotel colors revisited, Scottsdale, Arizona, 2007
The vivid primary colors that once distinguished this hotel (
http://www.pbase.com/image/60068611 ) are gone. They have been replaced by whitewash. New management, new name, but no color. Yet is not white a color as well? It is, and for photographers, white can also be symbolic. I stood on the same spot where I had made my previous image a year earlier, and moved in with my wideangle format to stress the hulking contrast between the whitewashed wall, softly illuminated by the partially overcast sky, and the opposing wall in the shadows, which is dark gray. Yet when photographed in color, white is not all white, and gray is not all gray. Traces of blue can be seen in both walls, and the sky is a cloud streaked pale gray blue as well. Both this and my previous image express the nature of man’s geometrically organized spaces. But while the previous image was built upon its vivid primary colors, this image relegates color to context. The subject here is the oppressive weight of a structure designed to impress as much express. My vantage point burdens the viewer with its scale, size, the texture of the gray wall, the huge triangular gray shadow cast on the white wall, and the double diagonal thrusts of the rooflines. Far from celebrating life though architecture as the previous image did, this overwhelms and entraps us. Its very lack of coloration makes it seem cold and austere.
26-DEC-2006
Shopper at dusk, Marrakesh, Morocco, 2006
I caught this woman, baby strapped to her back, deep in a souk as the setting sun grazed her face. The play of light and color here is painterly -- it makes the moment into a happy memory. The essence of this image rests in restraint due to deliberate underexposure. The colors are rich and warm, yet subtle in their intensity and visibility. There reds, browns, pinks, purples, oranges, and greens here, but they do not clash. They harmonize in a subtle rainbow of color that expresses the mood and atmosphere of the moment.
11-DEC-2006
At the port, Essaouira, Morocco, 2006
The blue garments on this man match the old boat behind him. Blue is the prevailing color in Essaouira's harbor. I will often look for subjects that will either complement or contrast with the colors in the background. In this case I found chromatic harmony, rather than dissonance.
14-DEC-2006
Guards, Royal Palace, Rabat, Morocco, 2006
Colorfully dressed soldiers watch over a building complex that houses Morocco's government. King Mohammed VI stays in his own private residence elsewhere. I stress the red uniforms by abstracting the image – honing it down to the interplay of the red uniforms and the white belts, gloves, and straps. Men with guns in hand often want to be noticed (and feared). Red is a color that will draw notice very quickly.
10-DEC-2006
Weekly market, Essaouira, Morocco, 2006
Wearing their colorful jellabas, local farmers watch the buying and selling of goats, sheep, cattle, and even camels at this market. I shoot from behind to abstract the framers. They become a freestanding rainbow of different colored garments, with no faces or expressions visible. The yellow jellaba, being one of the primary colors, becomes the focal point of the image. Its wearer also stands slightly apart from the others, adding further emphasis.
10-DEC-2006
Mannequin, Essaouira, Morocco, 2006
The basis of this image rests in its colors. The first thing I noticed was how red ties the image together. The red decoration at the throat is echoed by the mannequin’s red lips, off-red hair, and the red shawl in the background. The blue shawl – a complementary primary color – matching the white dress and white shirts hanging at left, gives the overall image a red, white, and blue motif. Since Moroccan culture was greatly affected by the presence of the French from 1912-1956, perhaps this display is a subtle reference to the French tricolor?
15-DEC-2006
Olives and Lemons, Meknes, Morocco, 2006
Olives and lemons are part of almost every meal in Morocco. Here, they provide striking contrast in size and color in the Meknes market. I underexposed the colors to enrich them, and darken the shadows in the surrounding context. The light is coming from the side, giving the round olives and lemons a three-dimensional appearance. Red and yellow represent two of the three primary colors – I wonder if the grocers who arranged the display realized the visual power of this relationship?
10-DEC-2006
Fishing fleet, Essaouira, Morocco, 2006
Essaouira, an ancient walled city on Morocco's Atlantic coast, is home to a large fishing fleet. The blue boats are moored so closely together than one could almost walk across the harbor on them. The cumulative power of all of these fishing boats crunched with the four sides of my frame is greatly intensified by the fact that all of them are the same color, and a primary color at that!
20-SEP-2006
Colors of dawn, Bryce Canyon, Utah, 2006
Bryce is a geologic fantasyland. Ten million years ago forces within the earth created and moved massive blocks of stone. Ancient rivers carved the tops and exposed the edges of these blocks. In time, tall and thin ridges called fins emerged. Fins then eroded into pinnacles and spires, called hoodoos. Bryce is a canyon of richly colored hoodoos, a feast for the eye and the camera, particularly when struck by morning and evening light. Here are the colors of dawn, almost blindingly beautiful. I concentrate here on only a few of the tens of thousands of hoodoos that surrounded me on both sides, blending three successive layers of stone and color into each other. Their colors tell the story of time itself.
23-SEP-2006
For sale, Green River, Utah, 2006
Fewer than a thousand people live in Green River. Perhaps the quickest way to sell a car is to park it next to the town’s coffee shop -- everyone who needs to buy a car will almost certainly see it. This one can’t be overlooked: a bright yellow Beetle. All three prime colors – red, yellow, and blue – are present in this scene. It is yellow that steals the show and begs for our attention.
