Most of my collages end up being in series, but not all. Just as with the horizontal collages I posted prior to this one, many times I am not focused on a theme, I’m focused on a person. In each of these cases I met these people serendipitously. While some of the people I knew before hand, there were no planned shoots, no advanced warning. I saw them, (in some cases just meeting them for the first time), asked them to let me photograph them at that moment and they said yes. That was it. They and the environment they were in gave me the raw material and I built the collages from there.
The Texture of the Truth
I was looking for an estate sale in a neighborhood and happened upon an open house on the same block. I went in just out of curiosity and met the realtor. When I finished looking around I found her out on the front porch. She was lit beautifully with front light and since I had my camera with me I took a chance and asked her if I could take some photographs of her right there and then. She said yes. The clarity, texture and contrast of her skin was perfect, especially her hand against her teal colored shirt.
The Circles Around Her
I was at an art opening in Downtown Tulsa when I happened upon one of my daughter’s closest high school friends from many years before. I first saw someone lit from behind by the circles of a giant interactive Light Bright and took a quick picture. It wasn’t until I came up closer that I realized it was her. She had seen plenty of my artwork in our home over the years so she knew exactly what I did. She was game for me to take some quick pics of her in the middle of this outdoor art scene.
The Natural Function
I was at a coffee house in Tulsa when I noticed a high school friend of one of my daughters from years before sitting at a nearby table working. I eventually went up to her to say hi and noticed she was doing math homework. She had the late afternoon sun hitting her at that point and the color was amazing. I asked her if I could take some photographs of her and her surroundings and she said yes.
The Mind and Heart
I met this woman at a cafe in Tulsa. She had on some gorgeous jewelry that caught my eye. I introduced myself and had a nice conversation about many things including the jewelry, which was of her own creation. I asked if I could take some photographs of her and the jewelry and she said yes. We also talked about using both your head and heart to create and when I went outside I found a very colorful pile of trash inexplicably on the side of the road and a single cloud all by itself in the sky. They seems a metaphor for the head and heart so I put them in the middle of her portrait.
The Jewelry Truth
This woman was a student at the medical college where I worked and I would see her again and again with incredible jewelry. Finally I asked her if I could take some photographs of her and her jewels for a collage. They seemed to be so much of an organic part of her that I wanted them coming directly out of her.
Pretty Angst
I met this woman at an art opening in Tulsa. I was single at the time and we made plans to get together. We did a number of art oriented things together though we never actually dated. She ended up posing for me 2-3 times for collages. She had a complicated and convoluted life situation at the time and this collage was meant to express that fragmentation.
What Surrounded Her Smile
I was in Shenendoah Valley, Virginia for a wedding and visited a medicinal herb shop. The proprietor explained some of the items for sale with such a positive, smiling attitude that I really wanted to do a collage of her and all that surrounded her. And so I did.
Boat Gabardine
She was a co-worker of mine. When I photographed her she told me her dress fabric pattern was called Gabardine. I made a collage of a photo of the fabric/skin and it reminded me of a boat.
Relative Construction
It started out as a portrait of a relative of mine and it still is but sometimes a portrait becomes abstract and it’s all about the formal elements of color, texture, contrast and composition, not a face or a body.
Portrait in a Garden
I was in Colorado for a wedding when I met this woman in the lobby of the hotel we were staying at. She asked about my camera and that led to me telling her about my photography and photo collages. Next thing I know I am in the garden next to the hotel taking photographs of her and her surroundings. In particular I loved finding leaves in the garden that echoed the texture of the skin on her chest.
The Beauty Blend
I met this mother daughter duo at a wedding. The more I looked at them the more I saw how, even though they dressed and styled themselves differently, they still retained a strong connection. I asked them if I could take some photographs for a collage and they said yes.
The Good Dream
For many years I worked at a restaurant in San Jose, California. One co-worker was a music student at the time and later became a professional singer. She posed for me in an opera gown for a large drawing I was doing at the time (early 1990s). Years later I met up with her in Boston where she was performing at the big central church of her denomination. I was able to go to the service and hear her. Afterwards I took some photos of her, the sanctuary, church and details that I later used for this collage.
SLIDE SHOW
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