STILL TIME

The Retrospective

As I reflect on my 50-year journey in the realm of art and photography, I am reminded of the profound moments captured within each frame. My work, which spans portraiture, abstract, documentary, performing arts photography, painting and print-making, has always sought to explore the depths of human experience and emotion. This retrospective exhibition serves not only as a celebration of my artistic milestones but also as a testament to the evolving dialogue between the observer and the observed.

 

Throughout my career, I have embraced various styles and techniques, each serving as a lens through which I examine the complexities of identity, culture, and the transient nature of existence. My concern has always been to invoke thought and emotion, to push boundaries, and to challenge perceptions. My portraits seek to capture the essence of my subjects and aim to unveil the narratives behind the faces, while my abstract compositions challenge viewers to interpret the unseen and find beauty in the mundane.

 

The documentary projects strive to shed light on the unknown and unspoken, to present raw truths that resonate beyond the frame, and to capture the stories that define our communities. My engagement with performing arts photography provides a dynamic exploration of movement, musical expression, and raw emotion. As an artist, I have always been fascinated by the immediacy and tactile values of printing techniques, and this exhibition will also feature recent works in the genre of photogravure and monotype.

 

This milestone in my career is not only a reflection of where I have been, but a compass guiding me toward the future. The purchase of my first camera during that formative trip to Italy with my grandfather in 1972 marked the beginning of an approach grounded in looking, recording, and repetition. What began as an act of observation — a camera carried through unfamiliar streets — would later extend into photography and printmaking alike, where the ordinary, the material, the human face, and the spaces we inhabit are revisited, reworked, and re-seen.

 

For many years, this artistic path unfolded alongside a long professional life in public service. 

The balance was not always effortless. There were periods when the demands of that world weighed heavily, particularly in the final years before my retirement. Yet even then, the impulse to create remained constant — perhaps even more necessary. My two self-portraits in this catalogue are indicative of this period.

 

Stepping away at sixty marked not an ending, but a renewal. It allowed for a fuller immersion in the creative process — a return to the essential rhythm that first drew me to the camera. Today, art is no longer what I return to after work; it is the ground on which I stand.

 

Across five decades, the same impulse endures: to return to experience and give it form. I invite you to join me on this journey through the lens of my experiences, as we explore the intersections of life, art, and the indelible marks they leave on us all.