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.
While many of my photo collages are done in series, not all are. Often I am doing a portrait collage and it’s not connected to a theme, it’s connected to an individual. Such is the case with these.
Many of them were strangers that I happened to meet at work or at events. Something about them caught my eye. I explained that I was an artist doing photo-collages and asked if I could take photos of them. They said yes and these are the results.
The Bride To Be
She worked with me and I was taken by the decor in her office. I asked if I could take some photos of her in that environment and while I was taking the photos she said she was about to get married.
The Coleman Daughters
The photos of our daughters, Rebekah, Chelsea, Caitlin and Connie were taken at our wedding on November 11th, 2006.
Winter Portrait With Joy
I came out of work one winter day and saw this woman slipping and sliding away on the ice covered slope next to the parking lot. She was all alone having fun. I watched her for a while the asked her if I could take some photos of her in action. She agreed and continued to slide for a while. She later came over and allowed me to take some portraits so I could make a collage.
Wave of Diamonds
A Student at the University where I worked.
Nature/Nurture
A student at the University where I worked.
Nails
Someone I was related to or knew, I forget who, was getting a manicure. I took pics of her nails being done and then asked the nail technician if I could take photographs of her to create a collage.
Journey to the Interior
I took the photos of my step-daughter Caitlin on our trip to Virginia for my daughter Rebekah’s wedding in 2006.
Hair and Scar
She was sitting in the row right in front of me at some event and was playing with her hair. I was mesmerized by that alone and then she parted her hair at one point to expose the scar. I asked her if I could take photos and she said yes.
Rococo
A student at the University where I worked.
The Vortex She Creates
I was hired to take some ‘boudoir’ style photos of this woman and while doing so found many opportunities to get photos that exposed a more revealing version of her than one without clothes.
Surfaces of the Interior
She was at a coffee shop I was at and I was taken by the lightness of her blue eyes. I felt if I could capture that light I would find a way into her interior. I asked her if I could take some photographs and she said yes.
In May of 2025 we spent 10 days traveling around France. We We met up with Linda’s sister and brother-in-law in the town of Amboise in the Loire Valley, drove through Caen, Bayeaux, and Giverny in the Normandy region, then on to Versailles and Paris.
In past travels I carried a DSLR camera but this time I used my iphone exclusively. Sometimes I wished I had a full camera but on balance I felt I got most everything I wanted without the hassle. All the images here were converted to BW from color. The color added a lot to some of the images but overall I like the mood and feel the BW images give so decided to be uniform in imagery.
Back in the 2000s and 2010s I took a lot of road trips. We went through Texas, Colorado and New Mexico on a regular basis. We went through a lot of roadside convenience stores and tourist stops and somewhere along the way I thought it would be fun to design postcards of what I was seeing, sort of like tourist postcards, but of the every day small realities of my travels outside of tourist attractions.
Here is a selection of the cards.
Colorado Post Cards
‘It Was All About The Light Where We Were’ Colorado‘We Saw Beautiful’ Colorado‘We Should Take A Little Hike’ Colorado‘A Vacation Day @ the Outlet Mall’ Colorado‘Our 5th Day Was the Fourth’ Colorado
New Mexico Post Cards
‘Stay on the Trail It Said And We Obeyed’ New Mexico‘Extra Hot Post Card’ New Mexico
Texas Post Cards
‘We Blew Into Texas’ Texas‘Our First Day Was A Blur’ Texas‘We Went Shopping in the Lone Star State’ Texas‘We Saw Dallas From the American Car’ Texas“I Drove Through the Panhandle and Saw This and This and This and Her’ TexasShe Served Us Breakfast in Texas’ Texas
Slide Show
It Was All About the Light Where We Were
We Saw Beautiful
A Vacation Day @ the Outlet Mall
We Should Take A Little Hike
Our 5th Day Was the Fourth
Stay On The Trail It Said and We Obeyed
Extra Hot Post Card
We Blew Into Texas
The First Day Was A Blur
We Went Shopping In The Lone Star State
We Saw Dallas From the American Car
I Drove Through the Panhandle and Saw This and This and This and Her
Back in 2009 I got a bit of local attention in Tulsa, Oklahoma for my napkin drawings. This resulted in me being interviewed by numerous print and TV reporters over the course of a few years. I was doing extensive photography work at the time as well as drawing the napkins so I jokingly proposed to the first reporter that they could photograph and interview me if they allowed me to photograph and interview them. Surprisingly the first person agreed so I continued asking and they kept saying yes.
This led to me asking them if they thought anyone else in their newsroom would be interested in this sort of project and that in turn led me to photographing a number of reporters and anchors who did not interview me but just liked the concept. And here was the concept – how different their public life was from their private life. I felt that if I could zone in on more that just the public face I could capture a bit of that dichotomy.
Finding the Private – To do that I not only photographed the person but also their environment. In particular I looked for things the public would not see on air or be told about in their writing. This included hidden tattoos, coffee cups, jewelry, makeup bags, shoes, the contents of car trunks and purses, even intimate apparel that was hanging to dry on a bathroom door knob in one case (photographed with permission).
I tried to move beyond the polished public image when photographing their face, perhaps to show the reality of what a lot of makeup looks like close up or to show what no makeup look likes, to what a face does when it shows emotion or responding to outside stimulation like sun or wind.
I chose the titles based on what I felt that person exhibited, either with me in person or my general feeling about their reporting and/or their personal life.
Here is a selection of those collages. Let me know what you think.
In Finite – In Public In Private #1 Kristen Dickerson – AnchorIn Tangible – In Public In Private #2 Janna Clark – TV ReporterIn Credible – In Public In Private #3 Lori Fulbright – Anchor / Crime ReporterIn Theater – In Public In Private #4 Sharon Phillips – TV ReporterIn Sight – In Public In Private #5 Emily Sinovic – TV ReporterIn Between – In Public In Private #6 Abby Alford – TV ReporterIn Utero – In Public In Private #7 Carrie Netherton Salce – TV ReporterIn Trepid – In Public In Private #8 Holly Wall – Investigative Reporter – PrintIn Tuition – In Public In Private #9 Natasha Ball = Investigative Reporter – PrintIn Voluntary – In Public In Private #10 Teri Hood – TV AnchorIn Vocation – In Public In Private #11 Chera Kimiko – TV AnchorIn Consequential – In Public In Private #12 Michelle Lowry – TV Reporter
Slide Show
In Finite – In Public/In Private #1
Kristen Dickerson
In Tangible – In Public/In Private #2Janna Clark
In Credible – In Public/In Private #3
Lori Fulbright
In Theater – In Public/In Private #4Sharon Phillips
In Sight – In Public/In Private #5
Emily Sinovic
In Between – In Public/In Private #6
Abbie Alford
In Utero – In Public/In Private #7
Carrie Netherton Salce
In Trepid – In Public/In Private #8
Holly Wall
In Tuition – In Public/In Private #9
Natasha Ball
In Voluntary – In Public/In Private #10
Teri Hood
In Vocation – In Public/In Private #11
Chera Kimiko
In Consequential – In Public/In Private #12Michelle Lowry
The Wondering Breast – The Stranger Juxtaposition #1
The Wondering Breast – The Stranger Juxtaposition #1
Something On Her Mind – The Stranger Juxtaposition #2
Something On Her Mind – The Stranger Juxtaposition #2
‘She had something she had seen while on the cruise afixed in her mind. It was in keeping with her loneliness and she felt it was obvious to all around her as if it was an adornment atop her head. She wanted desperately to take off the accouterment but was unwilling in the end because she knew it would never be amongst her charms unless she let in shrink in place and migrate to her bracelet on its own accord so she let it exist, remaining slightly melancholy for the duration of the voyage.’
The Color Opera – The Stranger Juxtaposition #3
The Color Opera – The Stranger Juxtaposition #3
The light coming through the salon door was luminescent and the blue jewelry and eyes popped. I left, went south and found an abandoned ranch, finding similar colors. It was an opera of color.
I Wish – The Stranger Juxtaposition #4
I Wish – The Stranger Juxtaposition #4
The gallery was airy and the assistant had great eyebrows and there was an interesting painting with the word penis in it and there was a colorful potted tree outside and a wall of tile.
The Healing – The Stranger Juxtaposition #5
The Healing – The Stranger Juxtaposition #5
‘The woman who didn’t want to look but found the courage to face the light and thus was healed in the Vietnamese nail salon.’
Love Like Jesus – The Stranger Juxtaposition #6
Love Like Jesus – The Stranger Juxtaposition #6
‘She had yet to understand how she could love too much. Not because it was bad but because people would be like lesser mortals and she would end up being like Jesus, without people who understood her and perhaps crucified.’
The Cake Seller – The Stranger Juxtaposition #7
The Cake Seller – The Stranger Juxtaposition #7
‘Her dream was to be a dancer from the time she saw her father enthralled by the flamenco troupe that came through her small town in Mexio when she was 7 and a half years old and her sone had not even been aseen in her far eye. And now her love is so deep and true that she sells her cake at the mall and dances for him, not her father anymore.’
Maybe Yes No – The Stranger Juxtaposition #8
Maybe Yes No – Stranger Juxtaposition #8
The eye doctor’s eyes, pearls and shoes said 3 different things.
The Separation Anxiety – The Stranger Juxtaposition #10
The Separation Anxiety – Stranger Juxtaposition #10
She took our family photo and we had done the same for her. I didn’t notice her separation anxiety until I got home.
The Dreamer – The Stranger Juxtaposition #11
The Stranger Juxtaposition #11
‘I witnessed her dreaming, day and otherwise, while on the ferry in the bay next to the island with the tree and the blue sky on vacation.’
The Listener – The Stranger Juxtaposition #12
The Listener – The Stranger Juxtaposition #12
‘The woman at the table next to me at the conference listening while I did not but instead had my camera in my lap and took photos of interesting beauty because in the end that is what will remain and I like that.’
The Lookers – The Stranger Juxtaposition #13
The Stranger Juxtaposition #13
‘Something about the way they looked at me persuaded me to give them my money.’
With certain projects I know when I photograph the person I want more than just a portrait of their face because they are more than their face. I want to college more about who they are, including often their clothings, other parts of their bodies, surroundings, backgrounds, homes, and more. It is a collection of images that tell their story.
With Visual Poems I collected the images without knowing I was going to do this series. I was working on other series at the time that also had me collecting diverse images from the shoots and it wasn’t until afterwards that I started to see the possibilities in design and content that led in this direction.
I would love to know if you have a favorite and why so don’t be shy about leaving a comment.
I have two websites, this one and ‘martycoleman.com’. That one is moribund and I no longer post to it. But I did in the past and there are many posts and galleries there that aren’t on this website, especially in the area of photo-collage, which I have done extensively since the 1990s.
I am posting those series at ‘The Napkin’ over the next few months.
The first is called ‘Truths and Things I Made Up About These Women’. The germination of this idea started when I was photographing friends. I was in conversation with them as they posed and came to learn certain things about them. Later, as I was doing the collages I would think about how the viewer would see them. They would nothing about these people but they would have some impression from the image. But what if I put some verbal hints of who she is, how would that affect how the viewer saw the person?
That led to me laying out a list of true things about the person, things they had told me, and then adding in one (or more) things I made up. Why not just say true things? Because I like the idea of the viewer having to think about their own perception and to engage with that perception to think deeper about how we judge and come to conclusions about people.
The text is small in many cases as they were originally created to be seen in large format in a gallery setting.
Here is a selection from that series. Let me know what you think in the comments.
Ever since I started using an iphone for photography instead of my old dslr camera I have done much less street photography. But recently I took trips to Los Angeles and Las Vegas and I was inspired to entertain that genre again. Here are some of the images I came up with.
We often talk about getting lost in the landscape. The idea is to go out and lose oneself, and I get that. You lose all those society-laden elements that burden you. But losing is only half the story. The other is about what you find out about yourself when you are away from all that.
Here are a selection of photos I have taken over the years that visualize the lost and the found.
