In those days when I ran my own darkroom, I
found that capturing images, especially in black and white, was a
truly profound experience. No matter how an image looked to the naked
eye, it appeared as a totally different experience on paper, in black
and white, almost as if it were a reflection of another world. I
quickly learned that one could manipulate the photos in the darkroom,
much as one can do with images today in Photoshop. Use of different
papers and chemicals, dodging, burning, and occasional use of filters
could turn what might be an ordinary experience in life into a
thought provoking image for the viewer. Below are some examples. The
first photo was taken in Albuquerque, NM, when I started visiting
there in 1971. Whenever I look at a picture like this, I'm always
amazed at how the camera can capture a single instant in a person's
life. The second was taken in England in 1977, at Salisbury Cathedral
where I was overwhelmed by the incredible gargoyles and sculptures on
the outside of that marvelous structure. And the third was taken on a
weekend trip to West Virginia in the late 1970's. The lighting
couldn't have been better for what I was trying to take.
