before the light
photography literally means writing or drawing with light. but light alone does not make an image. the image begins before that.
at the beginning of my work is an inner idea of what an image can be. it determines the place, the frame, the perspective, the moment and later the material and the process. the camera is not the author, but a tool through which an idea is translated into visible form.
chance is material, not method
a personal intention to shape the image always underlies my work. chance is welcome, particularly in historical and chemical processes, because it can leave traces, surfaces and subtle variations. it may enrich an image, but it does not determine the work. the fundamental decisions remain deliberate.
from image to object
wet plate collodion, platinum-palladium printing and other historical or alternative processes are not a nostalgic return for me. they are contemporary photographic tools. they require time, chemical knowledge, craft precision and experience. every decision leaves a physical trace in the finished photographic object.
at a time when images can be generated, altered and reproduced almost without limit, I am interested in the opposite position: the singular image, the physical photographic act, the personal decision and the visible trace of how it came into being.
the image does not begin with the camera.
it begins before.