Artist’s Statement

Since 1910, abstract imagery has been seen to be the sole domain of painting by much of the art world. In fact, a number of eminent photographers—Paul Strand, Alfred Stieglitz, Man Ray, Brassaï—were making abstract photographs over a century ago, the first intentionally abstract photography was made in 1916—only six years after the first abstract painting. My photographs are of weathered surfaces, objects, graffiti, handbills, and paint found on walls, lampposts, and doors in the streets of Brooklyn, New York, Los Angeles, and Medellín among others.

In the process of photographing a surface or object and eliminating any reference to its physical context or size, it is transformed into something new that exists in an intangible realm of shape, color, mood, and mystery. When printed, the image is transformed again into physical form—the still photograph.

While I use a camera to make the images, I believe it is the final image that matters, not how it was made or whether it’s a painting, a collage, or a photograph. I make images of commonplace and consequently “invisible” surfaces as a means of exploring the alchemy of imagination.

I see a work of art as a conversation between the artist and the viewer. I have chosen to use neutral titles such as Concrete, Wall or Metal with the intention not to distract or influence how a viewer sees or thinks about a given image. My photographs fall into two categories: Abstract or Narrative. An abstract is a window and asks ‘what do you see or feel?’ A narrative tells a story.