In graduate school I had to develop a photography project as part of my thesis required for graduation. Because I was working a full-time career and going to school part-time, it was important to find a subject that was close and easily accessible. The roots of my interest in personal documentation of my experience in the world first surfaced in this work.
I had started making photographs of my wife Kim. Mostly because I had started carrying a camera around with me all the time looking for “subject matter” for a project. While looking at contact sheets with my advisor he commented that I was making a lot of pictures of Kim and perhaps I should think about why that was happening.
Not long afterward I made a decision to try and examine our relationship with the camera. Kim did not like having her picture taken. I was not good with people. She was busy and always in motion. I wanted to control the process. But over time I began to work quietly (mostly) with a Leica M6 camera making photographs as we moved through life. Some were posed but mostly I was recording moments. And as the process continued and the number of photographs increased, a portrait of our relationship began to emerge.
The project of photographing Kim lasted about six years and culminated in an exhibition that was part of the requirement to receive an MFA in Art from Penn State. During that time I made thousands of photographs in almost every part of our lives. While it was happening Kim accepted what I was doing but could find it intrusive or unsettling. A level of trust was required to be open to a camera like she made herself. At the opening of the exhibition, the first time most people had ever seen this work, friends commented how they could never allow someone to photograph them like that “unprepared.”
I have found beauty and understanding of our relationship in the work. Kim is grateful now to look back and see her life during those years. And the relentless documentation I did opened the door for me to understand the power and value of documenting my experience in the world. And ultimately an ability to see what’s going on in front of me and appreciate each moment as it comes.
The gallery below will give you a sense of project work. Click on an image for a larger view.
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