About Jim

Philosophy

Jim's photography is about communication through images which use simple lines and forms in symmetric (occasionally asymmetric) relationships.  He feels that the viewer's experiences are improved and intensified when there is a minimal amount of incidental clutter to distract from the essence of what he is trying to communicate. 

Like all good photographers, he tries to let you know what he feels about a scene, not just what he sees.  From his first viewing of the works of the photographers Edward Weston, Michael Kenna and Jay Dusard, he has been influenced by their styles.  He has connected with their concept of using simplicity to assist in communicating the emotional complexity felt when photographing.  It may sound contradictory, but it seems to work for him.

As he pursued development of his own photographic style, he found that the black and white image worked best for him.  He believes that the viewer can penetrate more easily and deeply into a personal interpretation of images if he creates them using this presentation format.

 

Subjects & Interests

The subject of much of his photography is the landscape of the American West. Though he hadn’t traveled west of the Mississippi until he was almost 30, he has fallen passionately in love with the overwhelming beauty he has found here.  Through his photography, he tried to express the awe and satisfying personal calm he experiences in exploring the West’s wild and special places.  Even if it is not the specific subject of a particular image, "The West" is deeply inside its structure and interpretation.  It guides how he sees -- it influences how he creates his art.

He has been published.  His first book was the 2002 “Eternal Companions: Faces of the Père Lachaise”.  This book has resulted in rich visual images of his subjects – the statuary and bas reliefs of the famous Paris cemetery.  His work has also been published in several books by other authors including Andy Miller’s 1995 “An Unkindness of Ravens”.

Jim’s current projects include a visual interpretation of Fort Point, a pre-Civil War fort in San Francisco, California and an ongoing, multi-year project documenting the landscape of the Great Plains which will be the subject of his forthcoming book “In Plains' Sight: Meditations on Eastern Colorado's Beautiful High Plains Landscapes”..

 

Education and Methods

He has participated in what he calls "independent studies" and in the practice of his art for over 25 years.  He has also been fortunate in having had the experience, over the years, of learning from many great photographers through advanced study and workshops - among these:  Morley Baer, Howard Bond, Michael Kenna, Bruce Barnbaum and Jay Dusard.

He personally creates all of his images in his traditional (chemical) darkroom where he personally prints archival silver gelatin, selenium toned images from film negatives.  He incorporate no digital processes into any of his work as a matter of personal choice (rather than of "religious" dogma).  While he, personally, are an adherent to traditional techniques, he has studied digital photographic processes and understands and appreciates the “power of the pixel” and the creative images now possible through digital capture and editing.

He currently works exclusively in black & white, large format film photography.  His main camera is an Ebony SV45Ti.  His favorite lens is the Nikkor SW 90mm (equivalent to 27mm in 35mm format). 

He also does all of the matting & framing of his prints. In this way, he feels connection with the entire work process and can control the quality of the displayed images from start to finish.

 

Teaching

In addition to working on his own photography, he also enjoys teaching the photographic arts at all levels from introductory to advanced.