Light makes a design visible and produces subtle changes that transcend verbal interpretation. I think it would be appropriate to describe my medium as light no matter what the technique of production happened to be.

Concentrating on the use of light and dark, which I use as a design element, allows me to keep the design and composition simple no matter how complicated it may appear at first glance. Then to further clarify the two-dimensional space, or format, I incorporate more formal aspects of design.

Although the work is realistic I break up space abstractly before thinking of the actual impact of the subject matter. For me, this cuts through the visual, emotional and psychological chaos that fills our world and clarifies the image.

The portfolio called Tools makes another statement, not only about the design of the subject, but also about people who spend their lives working with tools and machinery. As Roger Shattuck, critic, poet and essayist, says in a catalog commentary referring to these images: “Someone was here, just a moment ago, watching and working". The subject, the design and the connection between past and present are central to these images.

Painters influencing my work include Georges de la Tour, Rembrandt and Vermeer. Photographers whose work I deeply admire include Edward Weston, Ruth Bernhard, Berenice Abbott and Margaret Bourke-White.

"Why do I work in black and white?": A note of explanation.