They type of image I used to take a lot of. I was a dedicated nocturne then. The results long-exposure reveal fascinate me. The sense of inertness and stillness in the night. Time waiting, time passing. Ever since I moved away from California I find myself attending to such images far less. Maybe it was a California thing, warm evening air, the native styling. In the past 18 months I've resided in three countries and each move is reflected in my photography not simply by different subject matter. It has also affected the content in other ways too. This has got me thinking that photography, the eye and the practice, is a reaction to one's surrounding, to the culture of where ever you are at. I've gone from roaming around at night photographing old factories and cars, freeways in Northern California to the raw dramatic landscapes of British Columbia. Now I seem to take pictures of the natural features of British countryside and French coastline.
Increasingly my pictures have less of an artistic edge and have become more literal. Not sure what I think about this. My foray into stock photography is no doubt responsible for some of this. I also find that being at home, well, that always takes a while. The artistic is dependent on how comfortable you are with what you photograph, what it makes you feel. And, for me, this is born from familiarity. To be familiar is to become native and the methods of different expressions, interpretations and experimentation ensue. One is at home with one's subject.
Messy Business, Quiberville, France, 2012
