Reflections

This was a return to a theme I had explored 20 years earlier. Like many such early works, it was short lived, as it lacked direction or sense of purpose. The concept was retained and lay dormant, waiting for a different sensibility on my part to explore this theme again. Images were collected during 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. The first images were collected using a film camera. I began photographing with a digital camera in 2005. I decided to terminate the series in 2006. I had other images that were now of higher priority, other themes and other technical ideas that required exploration. The title for the series and the individual images come from a connection to an economic viewpoint on the development of our society through the 20th century. Specifically the phrase "the Henry Ford economy". This relates to the creation of a middle class through the development of mass production techniques that made many goods plentiful and affordable. It was said that Henry Ford believed he had to pay his workers well enough so they could afford a lifestyle that would allow them to buy one of the cars they helped build. The Reflections, of course, come from our own century. They are often obscure and subtle, sometimes a bit clearer, but always distorted; much like our view and understanding of what it would have been like to live in the "Henry Ford economy". The hard copy images are printed on art paper using a digital printer. Color, 120 photographs, 134 pages.
About the Author: About the author: The world presents itself and occasionally, I take the time to observe. There are times when the observation takes on the form of obsession, at other times it is the casual encounter. These moments become photographs. Believing that the normal needs to be elevated by exaggeration or simplification, I apply my skills to interpret these instances. My work, since 1998, has focused on computer manipulated photographs. I've exhibited in group and one person shows since 1969; exhibiting photographs, painting and prints. The prints have been exhibited extensively through 147 exhibitions, primarily in US University, College, and Community galleries. The exhibitions have been in; BC, Alberta, Ontario and in 31 American States. Also an exhibitor in 12 virtual web galleries, associated with academic conferences focused on digital imaging in Australia, China, Thailand, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. In 2006, I began publishing my completed projects as books, and have completed thirteen books to date, with three others in development to be published in 2010. Born and educated in Alberta, I have been living in Victoria, on Canada's West Coast, since 1984.