About Mike's Photographs
 

Nature creates the finest artwork in a variety of media, and I use the finest tools to record every nuance of detail and color. It is fascinating to examine the resulting photographs because I am able to see so much more than I could with my unaided eyes, and there is so much more to see.

The ultimate expression of my photographic endeavors is the individual fine-art print. From the moment that I decide to set up my camera to make a photograph, I visualize how the scene revealed on the camera's viewing screen will appear as an isolated rectangle hanging on a wall, exclusive of explanation or accompaniment.

These photographs are not about the human condition, nor about man's impact on the environment. With few exceptions, these images do not include any evidence of human intervention other than the photographer's tacit presence to record the view. If anything, these images are about the natural environment's impact on a human observer – the arrangement of light, shape, color, and texture that creates a form of visual music as a viewer's gaze wanders around the scene.

It is this visual music – melody, harmony, and rhythm for the eye – that attracts me to each of these situations in the first place, with the objective of recording and recreating these natural masterpieces with as much fidelity as modern photographic technology can deliver. Yet these are far from rote reproductions – each image requires individual interpretation to best reveal its content within the confines of a printed representation.

My photographs are seldom about the articulation of a distinct thought, but instead try to convey all of the emotions that prompted me to set up the camera at the time. This suggests that some time might be spent examining an image before an observer discovers its visual music and how this affects them personally.

 

light, shape, color, and texture create visual music