I have been a photographer since 1963, when my father brought home from Japan a Canon Demi. I have since converted to Nikon. My photographic interests have also changed, in a more evolutionary way. This is where I’m at now. Some of these images reveal, however indirectly, the many hours I have spent studying paintings by painters I particularly admire in museums around the world. In that sense they could be considered painterly. Some of the captions reflect the specific sources of this inspiration. Many though come from a completely different place to which I have no conscious access.
I’ve never been reluctant to express myself publicly in writing, albeit in matters unrelated to art. I have written three books for a general audience more or less directly related to the stuff I was doing when I was doing biological research. One was fairly controversial and I was fine with that. But when it comes to my photography I have always been more reticent. Partly because I became convinced at an early age that my “tastes” were not widely shared, beginning with my immediate family: “Why are there no people pictures?”. Subsequent experience within my social sphere--which did not include artists or anyone interested in the arts--confirmed this. Nor did I find much evidence of what I was after in the professional photography community, though there was much to admire. Hence my photography has always been a private activity, unknown to even my close friends. These images were created with no audience in mind, other than myself. Until recently, that is. I think the shift is due to advancing age, which, for some reason has made me less timid, to the point that I have been hovering near the threshold of “exposure” for a while now. Recently I’ve passed that threshold, but just barely.