ENTRY DESCRIPTION
Col. Ward Pumping Station, Buffalo, NY

AUTHOR
Born and raised in England, but living in California since the late 1980’s, my photographic skills are self-taught through decades of patience and practice. The potential of black and white photography first enthralled and excited me as a teenager when my father lent me his Kodak fold-out camera to take on a school trip to Brussels and Paris . I bought my first camera in 1966 (a used twin-lens Yashica), followed by a succession of various 35mm and medium-format film cameras -- today I use digital medium-format and rangefinder cameras.

I’m energized in exploring images of what I see around me, especially architecture and landscape (the interest in architecture comes from the rest of my family -- my father, brother and son are all architects). I’m fascinated by the form and function of buildings that men and women create and equally by the infinite forms that nature creates.

Ever since that first experience back in 1958, black and white photography has always been my first love -- the simplicity, elegance, drama, timeliness and richness that it can bring to an image for me drives a more visceral response. I’m excited by the emotional ‘punch’ that black and white images bring in this particular context – the contrasts between light and dark, areas of luminance and tonality, and the abstractions of shapes and forms -- that “special” quality that heightens the emotion and impact of the image.

back to gallery