As we make our way in the world we are surrounded by stories. There are the unspoken stories that we see in the faces of the people around us. But there are other stories that surround us, as well. These are the stories of the faces and figures that have been created by others in times past and left for us to get to kow, perhaps years, perhaps decades, perhaps centuries later. There are the stories in the portraits remaining in crumbling frescoes, in stained glass windows, in statues, in memorials, in buildings, in decorative objects. The artist has put some of him or herself in each piece, I am sure of it. As each creation carries some of the artist's spirit, it tries to reach out, through time, to communicate with us.
Each image in these collections began as a photograph of a character, place or object that has reached out to me in my travels. In each one there has been something that has attracted me, transcending the boundaries of time, location and space. Once I am back home in my studio, I begin an artistic journey with each image to reveal its spirit, history and story in a new way. And, as you see, the images that we create don't look like photographs any more at all.
Part of a developing body of work I am calling, "Contemporary Vintage Photography, " my goal is to remove each image from the visual noise of contemporary time and space while also honoring its history. Freed from external distractions, I hope the viewer can really focus on the character, the history, the story of each piece, and perhaps the spirit of the artist who originally gave it life. This work is painterly in intent and straddles the worlds of photography and painting, as well as the worlds of the present and the past.
© Visual Ovation Photography