“Spiritus”

Finalist in 2013 - Photolucidia - Critical Mass Portfolio Review

STATEMENT

When I was a toddler I was unable to walk, crippled by a birth defect that left my legs twisted. I have fond memories of my father carrying me nearly everywhere I needed to go. The view from his shoulder was much different than the floor or the ground around me where I would sit and stare at my legs, leather straps pulled firm on the straight metal braces which aligned the inside and outside of each leg. My attempts to stand and walk were well noted by the scuffs on the toes of my leather shoes for the crossbar clamped to the braces between my shoes forbade me of most attempts.

I remember sitting on the earth while my mother worked in the garden. There I would pick green blades from the grass and plants around me and be seemingly amazed and content for a while. In a few years, I ran like any other child ignoring the mysterious magic that once fascinated me so much.

Now older and feeling the long-term effects of my youthful blunders and twisted legs I have rediscovered the enchantment I once felt while looking at mysteries near me and under my feet. Each specimen I discovered rekindled the feelings I once had while watching the earth around me. After some time it became noticeable to me that each element I chose, like me, in some way is not perfect. Similar to me all the specimens possessed certain qualities of spirit.

I selected the historic photographic process of Wet Plate Collodion Tintype for its serendipity, unrepeatable emulsion rewards, and spirited entity. Not only do the titles reflect certain attributes associated with spirit but my intention to not harm the specimens during the making of the photogenic drawings permits the subject to have depth and generate abstract qualities.