Personal Work
Disconnect
Since the Industrial Revolution, there has been a gradual societal withdrawal, a progressive isolation and alienation, from the natural world. The decline of family-run farms and urban migration have significantly decreased people’s encounters with nature. Time to enjoy the natural world has progressively been usurped by the need for multiple jobs, longer working hours, and lengthy commutes on crowded interstates. Until recently, childhood had been sheltered from these time constraints of adulthood and separation from nature. But, no more.
Childhood used to be a time to delight in the outdoors, a time of wild explorations and flights of imagination, but more and more in the 21st century children have retreated from outside play. Extra time not devoted to organized sports and homework is being squandered in the electronic glare of televisions, computer monitors, cell phones, mp3 players, video games, and social media sites. Although technology has undoubtedly benefitted society and our children as well, is something being irreversibly altered by our culture’s avid dependence upon it? Will today’s youth be irretrievably engulfed by the pervasive availability of the digital airwaves? Is it too late to reintroduce our children to the wonders of the outdoors and their imaginations? Technology is here to stay, but our children's time of innocence, playfulness and freedom is all too brief.
Help them disconnect.
Snow Day
A Girl and Her Pup
Sometimes creative projects occur to us as an after thought and then things take on a life of their own. So it was with A Girl and Her Pup I never intended for the first few images of my youngest daughter and Monty, our new puppy, to morph into a series, but it felt like a good thing.
It turns out it was. I had a lot of fun creating the series and stretching my creativity. I have also received many compliments and lots of enthusiasm for the series from readers. Thank you.
I attempted to create a mix of images representing the relationship between my daughter and Monty from humorous to touching, some straight from my iPhone to others made with my D700 and worked in Photoshop, some spontaneous images and some pre-planned. Ironically, (maybe speaking to the traits of humanity and the unpredictability and independence of children in general) Monty has gotten easier to photograph as he has been trained, while my daughter has become more resistant at times as she has gotten older and more independent forcing me into a more documentary style of photography.
This series documents roughly a year of my daughter and Monty’s growth and relationship in weekly clips; a great feeling and images I’ll treasure in the future.
Upon its completion I compelled the images and some thoughts and feelings about the Girl and Her Pup series and put it in book form. If you are interested purchasing the GaHP book it can be found HERE in hardcover and HERE in softcover formats. I appreciate the support.
Rollerskating
