My View

1977 to 2021

All these images were shot on 4" x 5" film in a Horseman view camera, the least expensive camera made at the time. I paid $175 for it, but it suited my needs better than more expensive cameras. I found it slowed me down too much to record f stops, lens, etc. so I don‘t have hard data. However, most of my images were made with APO Nikkirs, 200 and 300 mm. The close in shots were always the 200 mm at f22 and usually about 1 second exposure time. Shorter lenses were Schneider APO-symmars and, for one image, a Schneider 75 mm Super Angelon.

At the beginning film was Ektachrome 64 and later Fuji Velvia and Astia. Velvia for its high resolution and fine grain and Astia for its wider dynamic range.

When I began photographing I had not a clue as to what I wanted to do. I knew it had to be nearby in order to visit often but it also had to be unlike the work of other photographers. It felt like I was driver around and lifting things to see what was under them. Until 1981, seven years after I began shooting. The image that triggered everything was the first: Maple Trees shot from the breakdown lane of I-90 near Boston. I found myslef looking into the canopy of a forest of maple trees just coming into bud.

Because I am not photographing anything with a name (like a lake or mountain) and perhaps becuase I don’t really know what I am doing, images are judged by the buzz they create inside me. Seeing these trees I knew I had to photograph them despite it feeling a little dicy being 10 frret from rush hour traffic, and so I did. After working out the logistics with the Turnpike Authority I shot the Pike for 10 years.

Other images followed a similar pattern, although it took me a while to figure it out. The basic idea was, if possible no one thing to draw your eye but lots of detail and texture so that if I pulled you in you wanted to hang around.

The downside is that it takes a bit print or preferably a 30" monitor. It also requires a good scanning setup and printer.

I cannot shoot anymore. In my 80th year I can walk about 20 feet, but there are still a few good chromes I haven’t found among the 20,000 or so that I shot.