Portrait of RM with Heat

The brilliance of the sun on her and the chair and the piercing nature of her look were so intense that not only was it hard for her to open her eyes, it was hard for me to not be blinded while taking the photo.

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Portrait of CS With a Window Behind Me

The Model CS. I scouted out this area before she was done working so I knew I wanted to capture someone's face with the beautiful light in the tall windows behind me. She obliged.

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Portrait in Reflected Light

She was at the front desk, then in the gallery as I looked at the exhibition. We got into a long discussion about the images in the show and that led to a discussion about my work which led to me asking her if she wanted to create some art with me which led to her saying yes which led us outside to take some photos I will use in a collage and also some straight portraits, of which this is one.

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She was the saleswoman at the Vintage Clothing Store who was also a photographer and an artist and knew about the cool show at the Center for Creative Photography and she was right, it was great.



I loved her great retro style with the bobbed hairdo and the 'little house on the prairie' dress. Her face was serious but not morose, filled with intelligence and just a bit of world weariness. She was a student and had a lot of study on her plate.

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Sisters in the Heat

This week is about black and white portraits. I have a weakness for that look that has light showing off the skin, it's texture and details. The one yesterday was about that. This one is from 1991 (or earlier actually, I am not sure). It is a film shot so the skin details aren't there the way I can capture them now, but you can still see my interest in getting the feeling of light and heat on the skin.



Plus, what's not to like about an late 80s early 90s look of hair and clothing, right?

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The Young Equestrian

This week will be a number of photos from an Equestrian competition I photographed in Inola, OK.



This is a pretty straight portrait. I waited for her in the shade of the arena knowing that the very bright sunlight behind me would make for a great glow on her face and in her eyes.

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People of Color #1 - A Spotted Woman with Flyer

This week you get to see sketchbook drawings again, woo hoo! These are colored marker
drawings I have done over the years. I drew, then colored, the people.



Most will have symbols and images familiar to those who have seen my work over the
years. I would love to know your thoughts on those symbols and the drawings in general.

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Portrait in the Mist

Last of the week long series on portraits. Coming up next week....Heck if I know! But
it will be something worth looking at so if you haven't already subscribed, do so.

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She Dreamt it Into Being

I love doing portraits with one eye closed. There is something so disconcerting about
it at first. But it then also allows you to think about two different aspects of the
person at the same time, and how they coexist. Plus it just looks really cool.

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Portrait with Brick and Wind

Another in my week of portraits. This is a dancer/model from the Tulsa Ballet who posed
for our photo group in the spring of 2008. I don't know her background, but I see a
real Russian look to her with her eyes and bone structure in particular.

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The Storm Inside

Another in my week long series of detailed portraits from the last few years.
This one is of a dental hygienist where I get my teeth worked on. She is much prettier
than this photo shows since I manipulated it extensively to bring out all the details of
her skin texture.

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Portrait in a Kitchen

This is a series of black and white images that I worked on to create a very painterly,
beautiful and moody feel to them. I wanted them to look hyper real yet very other
worldly at the same time.

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Doctor My Eye

I went to new eye doctor that was closer to wear I live.
This is her. I wanted to do a collage, but I liked the straight photo so
much I didn't go past it. I had to get new glasses by the end of 2007 for insurance purposes so I waited until New Years Eve day to go to the local eye doctor in my small town in Oklahoma. The whole staff was very nice and the doctor agreed to pose for me after we were all done. The light coming in through the office windows was fantastic and brought a beautiful glow to her skin and eyes.

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The Clouds of Knowing - Velveteen Woman Project #46

The Dress shop clerk, happy and without guile. We have gone in the store a number of times on
our visit to Del Mar, it is a resale shop with great clothes and great deals. We were looking for
hats for the first day of the Del Mar Racetrack season, which we were going to attend just for
fun! Didn't find a hat there, but did find some great deals and a great Tommy Bahama shirt.

She had brilliant blue eyes and the bright San Diego sun was out in full force so I asked her to
pose for me right outside her shop, which she was happy to do. I am not sure she was hot on my
taking photos of her feet, probably worried I had a foot fetish or something (I don't), but she
allowed me to nonetheless.

Del Mar, California, July 2008

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Rejection Suite - The Bearer of Sad Tidings

Day four of the week long rejection suite images. The idea behind this series wasn't
just to do something with the rejection letters, it was to do something with the
rejected photographs I had taken over the years. This collage is an example of that,
using a boring ocean photo, two portraits that were just lighting experiments, and a
flared and blurred photo of who the hell knows what. Each by themselves wouldn't be of
much interest but when put together with other images they certainly have much more
value and purpose.

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Truths and Things I Made Up About This Woman #21

I had gone down to Oklahoma City from my home in Tulsa (about 100 miles) to drop off my presentation for the upcoming Photoslam event. I decided to take the day and check out some galleries down that way, something I really hadn't done before.

When I entered the 'Untitled' [art space] gallery this woman was at the door greeting people, explaining the current show, etc. She was very helpful about explaining how the show came about (it was a year end showing of multiple grant recipients' work).

We got to talking about me being an artist since I had my camera with me, and I asked her if she was as well. She turned out to be an art historian in training, going to college.

The gallery was somewhat dark, but there were large windows in the front that let in great ambient light. Her eyes, as is obvious, were brilliant blue. I told her about my reason for being in OKC, and explained the 'truth' project I would present at the show. I asked her if she would be willing to pose for a collage from the truth series as well and she thought it would be a cool idea.

One of the artists in the gallery had large constructions. One of the constructions had a shredder attached to it that was churning out shredded paper very slowly. Photos of that, with photos of her were the perfect combination for what I learned about her as we talked; her life, doubts, fears, wonderings, etc.

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The Observed and the Observer

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The Focused Truth

I saw her every day and what stood out about her was her hair. She pulled it back
tight against her head into a bun. I didn't know what her hair was like actually,
beyond that it was brown. Because her hair was somewhat out of the picture I was
able to see her bone structure very well. She had a great neck and skull, elegant
and regal.

When I asked her if I could take some photos of her I explained those things to her.
She was surprised since she said she only put her hair up out of convenience and
didn't really think it made her look all that great.

When the next school year came around after a summer off (she was a student) I
noticed for the first time she was wearing her hair down quite often. It was very
long and curly/wavy, almost half way down her back. I asked her why she had decided
to wear it down more and she said she had been getting bad headaches. She went to
the doctor for them and found out it was likely from pulling her hair too tight into
the bun every day!

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The Wide-Eyed Arrival

She was waiting for her man, a traveling sportsman, the longest they had been apart,
she had a new car, was hoping he would like it, he was tall, buy maybe not tall enough,
she goes to school full time and works full time, it's been hard but she is excited to
see him, she was hoping she was in the right place.

Tulsa International Airport, Oklahoma
7/29/06

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The Queen of Morocco

She was kind and sweet, with big eyes and beautiful skin. She was great at explaining
all the items in the store. She told us she was from the middle of Morocco, in America
to work and learn at Disney World as part of an advanced management program. She
kindly let me take her photograph in the afternoon light. My wife was thinking I was
taking too much time and she needed to get back to her work, but she was happy to pose
for me. We bought some rubbing spices for food and they were yummy.

Orlando, Florida

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