For what it’s worth Part 2 of 2

I tend to store any findings into my personal database as pieces of knowledge that I may use to knit into a new thing at some point as needed. Those findings become seeds for my own growth. They become my questions and/or my answers. In combination with everything else in my experience, something new is born that becomes an evolution of my own way of seeing the world. It is my evolution in seeing and understanding that is important. I use the knowledge and insight of others to force my own thinking and my own creativity. In doing so, it is hoped that something entirely new develops. I end up with my own voice.

As far as photography goes, I’ve never really been a follower of a particular style, a group or a particular imagemaker. Of course, there have been many influences on my personal approach to photo practice from many different imagemakers. Some with the greatest influences have been by Diane Arbus, Robert Frank, Ansel Adams, Garry Winogrand, Lee Friedlander, Jerry Uelsmann, Atget, Bresson, Alexander Gardner, Wynn Bullock, Robert Adams. I love all their work. They are all admired in different ways. They all have something great to offer.

To be fair, I owe a lot to the entire history of photographic practice. Every one of the hundreds of practitioners I admire has had at least a slight if not major impact on my own ways of thinking and making photographs. Some have had more impact than others. Some have been amazingly influential.

Ultimately however, I believe that it has been the overall experience of constantly looking at, seeing and trying to understand an enormous number of images over a long period of time that has molded my particular way of working and my particular vision. Large or small, the great and the not so great have all had some affect. It is a way of learning, which has enabled me to interpret and to speak in my own voice.

If we simply follow a single doctrine or a particular style, we shut the door to everything else. Photography as a medium suffocates in a sea of sameness. All of those great photographers have developed their own ways of seeing the world as a way for them to understand life. What we see in their work is their consciousness. In that sense, we are seeing how they see their world. It is up to us to find our own path. A path that one hopes will inspire others.

Take the hints that the masters give us. Appreciate the gifts and use them for developing your own awareness and your own perception.

I believe that photography works best with open minds that seek to find and to reveal meaning.

The act of searching ones soul does not make one a god. However, when we discover the visions of those we admire, it brings us all a bit closer to our collective understanding of life.

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