Encouraged by fine art students and friends I met at university I began to study photography in the early seventies. The work of the “straight” or “pure” photographers of the early 20th Century was of particular interest. These photographers, Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand, Edward Weston, Ansel Adams and others established photography as an art form distinct from painting by using rich tonality, sharp focus and an emphasis on the underlying abstract geometric structure of objects. While straight photography continues to ground my work, I am now more interested in producing images of objects both natural and manmade. The objects themselves are not the subject matter of my photographs. That is created by the visual tension between two opposing forces: the objects themselves and my subjective view of them. This tension is what prompts the viewer to spend a little extra attention when trying to interpret an image. It creates a dance between the object, the photographer and the viewer that can awaken a new way of seeing our daily visual experiences. How I choose to position and frame the object in relation to other elements determines my subjective view. This view could be emotional, intellectual or graphic. The resulting tension could be an idea, mood or nuance; anything that might help create a new take on the familiar for the viewer. My camera allows me to isolate and bracket my visual experiences and create a photographic interpretation of what I see. Before releasing the shutter, I pre-visualize the image integrating emotions, ideas, light, design elements and camera technique with my informed intuition. I enjoy getting further acquainted with my image files while working with imaging software tools in post-production. It is here that I bring together my intuition and technology to make changes that move my photographs forward, from illustration to full expression. These tools allow me to bring forward the image’s design elements in a way that leans toward abstraction but seldom yields to it. I produce most of my images in black and white. Removal of colour favours a more objective view where light and shadow alone highlight design elements and add to visual impact. My colour images focus on combining one or two colours with a few design elements. Again to maximize visual impact. I use a Canon 5D Mark II, DSLR camera and usually carry only three lenses: A Canon L Series 17- 40, f4, a Canon L Series 70-200 II, f2.8 and a Canon 100, 2.8 Macro. I use RAW files, edited in Adobe Camera Raw, do further editing in Adobe Photoshop and use Silver Efex Pro 2 for B&W conversion. December 2020