The photos I make and the reasons for them have evolved a bit in the last 50 years.
Initially, as a kid, I just wanted to photograph everything I saw and see it as a print; it was still a magical process even though I had to wait a week to see the results (for just 12 photos on a roll of 127 film, I believe). I think many kids start out this way. The first photographer that really influenced me was Andreas Feininger - I loved his photos of New York City and I tried to do the same with my photos of downtown Los Angeles.
After a while, I became interested in how places change over time. So, for most of my photographic hobby, I’ve wanted to photograph cities and landscapes before they changed. The area I've lived in now for the last 37 years has a rich history, where small neighborhoods have risen out of nothing, flourished, and then either vanished back to the land or to larger urban growth. It’s fascinating to be in part of the city and see a very small remnant -- a building or object -- that is the only artifact remaining of something much grander that existed over 100 years ago. Those are the things I like to photograph and I’ve stated before that I see myself as sort of a photographic historian or archivist (is there an urban equivalent to a geologist?).
Like many others, there was also a time when I studied the books and photos of Ansel Adams and the Zone System. That, along with printing my own photos, has made my work better.
Lately, starting about 10 years ago, I became more accepting of photographic processes that were less than the high fidelity tack-sharp images produced by Zeiss lenses or large film sizes. It started with my first Polaroid camera in 2005 and the realization of the uniqueness of the image. I came to love the colors of SX-70 film. I’ve even done a little bit of image manipulation to get a nice artistic effect. Lately I’ve enjoyed using very small formats (Minox 8x11mm) and pinhole photography, enjoying the images they provide within the limitations of their formats.
