Artist’s Statement

“Color—what a deep, mysterious language—and so much older than words.” — Paul Gauguin

“Nature has mysterious infinities and powers to inspire, it is always changing, never repeating what it offers us—the artist in fact is one of nature’s means.” — Paul Gauguin

I have loved impressionist painting since first seeing one—I never tire of looking at them. In the early spring of 2008, on an impulse, I went to the Bronx Botanical Garden just as the flowering trees were at their peak. I took hundreds of photos on that day, and it became a rite of spring for me, a pilgrimage for the next 3 years.

The first viable photographic process was introduced in France in 1839 by Louis Daguerre. Art historians believe that Impressionism as a movement coalesced in the 1840s, chiefly in response to the artists’ recognition that photography could capture a moment with more exactitude than a painter ever could. The impressionist painters aspired to capture something deeper than verisimilitude: they sought the quality, the feeling light produces in us, the profound, inarticulate joy and awe Nature inspires.

The point of the still photograph (to draw with light) isn’t exactitude either, rather it is to bear witness to the joy (or horror) of seeing, to look and be present in the moment. Can painters claim an exclusive right to witness the miracle of light or the beauty of Spring? Would Stravinsky agree? The beauty of Spring, the miracle of Earth’s rebirth is one of Nature’s most profound gifts to humans as a species.

These photographs are an homage to impressionism, the beauty of nature, the trees themselves, and the miracle of light. Celebrating beauty and light is not a competition to be won. Take a step back if you will and see if you are not moved by the beauty, and serenity these stationary living entities draw from us simply by being. In bearing witness, we humans are reminded once again that we are in fact an organic part of this world—it is our choice to protect and nurture for those who follow, or not.