Artist Statement on Industrial Photography

Most of every industrial structure I had photographed in a span of one
year no longer exists and that which remains has dramatically been
altered. Our planet keeps changing, evolving and adapting to the human
race who attempts to control her appearance. Even as we build, we
destroy, it is the very nature of our species.

Photography does not halt change, photography does capture a fraction
of a second in an eternity, recording deaths progress, as everything
is dying from the moment of birth.

I attempt to capture the silent voices, discovering the daily
activities of those who worked and toiled a good portion of thier
lives in these now empty structures. Their markings on the walls are a
reminder that once they passed here and acted out the need of the
human race to leave a mark.

The spirit that still lingers is what I seek. Making sure the memory
of such places is passed from one generation to the next, by capturing
its essence through the medium of photography.

The roll of such a photographer is no different then from a
professional archeologist trained in finding clues in a broken piece
of pottery, a layer of dirt or the remains of a written record. I
explore the empty structure for signs of what kind of activity for a
given space occurred, seeking clues of a previous life that once
inhabited the area, I become detective, attempting to understand the
surroundings that I find myself in.

As I make a visual record of such a location, I must not forget that
it is my interpretation and not that of someone who has worked in such
a place. I cannot even begin to imagine what it was like unless I have
experienced something similar or seen the operation when it was a
thriving business. Therefore it is not only my rendition, but the act
of romanticizing of such a place, coupled with my own artistic need of
self-expression that is infused into the image.

Biography

Born in Hamburg, Germany ( June 25 ) my parents emigrated to the
United States in 1956 and briefly settled in New York. A year later we
traveled across the country using 'HWY 66' of which I have vague
memories. We settled in Los Angeles before moving to the Bay Area.
Since then I have returned to Germany to live and work there. Now that
I am married and have two children, and live in El Sobrante, a small
community in the Bay Area, I have, from time to time, yearnings to
return home and also travel to other places.

My real interest in photography came in 1969 with the purchase of a
Canon ftb 35mm camera. Apart from taking the usual snapshots, I began
photographing rock bands at the Hamburg 'Star Club', while the first
major body of work came with a trip to a friends house just outside of
Hamburg.

Interested in architecture and archeology, I set out to document over
the weekend the closure and ruins of 'Eppen Pappier Fabrik'. These
images of a paper factory would shape the very 'core' of how I would
interpret the medium of photography in the future.

As the years past, other interests took front and center stage, but
photography was never far behind and when income became steady, an
investment was made by upgrading and expanding the 35mm Canon
equipment. This included purchasing medium and large format cameras
and lenses. Now the shift from amateur hobbits to professional had
been bridged, especially after landing several commercial jobs.

Colour played an important part in my commercial work, yet it was
'Black & White' that occupied my private projects. Studying the
photographic works of Atget, Evans, Dorothea Lange and especially
Irving Penn, along with a deep rooted passion for 'film noire' movies
of the 1940's, I began to shape my ideas about photography.

Later with the responsibilities of family life, photography needed to
take a back-seat. Not until digital cameras became affordable but also
technically advanced that my interest in photography returned.

Photographic Influences

We must remember that what we photograph has had an influence to our
own past, so permit me to list the names of those who have walked
before me and influenced how I view the world through the camera lens.
The names are in no particular order.

Irving Penn, Eugene Atget, August Sander, Dorothea Lange, Helmut
Newton, Minor White, Paul Strand, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Ansel Adams,
Edward Weston, Aaron Siskind, Edward S. Curtis, Walker Evens, Robert
Capra, George Hurrell, Jarl Blossfeldt and Arthur Fellig, better known
as Weegee. Another name one should not forget is Jerry Uelsmann who
did it all in the darkroom since Photoshop had not been invented.

Publications

Some of my previous commercial fine art photography:

Art of The Trout Fly, Chronicle Books, 2004 (second edition)
Hallmark Merchandise, Hallmark, 2000-2001
Trout Flies, Calendar, FireFly Books, 1999
Trout Flies, Calendar, Chapters Publishing, 1997
Trout Flies, Calendar, Chapters Publishing, 1996
History of Fishing Flies, Odysseus Editions, 1995
Nymphs, Odysseus Editions, Odysseus Editions, 1995
Trout Flies, Calendar, Chapters Publishing, 1995
Modern Fly Lines, Odysseus Editions, 1994
The Professionals' Favorite Flies, Vol. II, Odysseus Editions, 1994
Trout Flies, Calendar, Chapters Publishing, 1994
The Professionals' Favorite Flies, Vol. I, Odysseus Editions, 1993
Art of The Trout Fly, Calendar, Chronicle Books, 1991
Art of The Trout Fly, Calendar, Chronicle Books, 1990
An Angler's Album, Rizzoli Books, 1990
Art of The Trout Fly, Chronicle Books, 1988 (first edition)

TECHNICAL DATA

All images displayed at this site were taken with a Sony DSC-V1, 5MP
digital camera and are full frame at high resolution and converted to
300 dpi, unless otherwise noted. Camera was set to aperture priority
for f8 at ISO 100, with individual adjustments to the exposure index
of EV between  -.03 to -0.7 in accordance to the histogram display and
desired effects wanted.
Back at the digital darkroom, all images are adjusted using levels,
curves, and colour corrected, then balanced for proper brightness and
contrast. Program used is Photoshop v5.5.
Images taken with 35mm slide film were scanned full frame, using a
Nikon LS-2000 slide scanner at 300 dpi and then adjusted within
Photoshop as mentioned above.
Prior to posting any colour image, it is converted to CMYK to
normalize the saturated colours of an RGB mode and then changed back
to RGB.

Currently a friend is letting me use his extra Nikon D70, with which I
shot RAW and high resolution jpg. The camera is set for manual and all
light metering is done with a hand held incandescence meter and I also
use a spot meter. All images taken with the Nikon had an ISO of 200,
the model lowest setting.

Additional data per image is made available at the time of posting.