Nocturne, a composition inspired by, or evocative of, the night…..
For the last decade, I have been photographing musicians who live in or pass through southeast Wyoming. My subjects range from singer-songwriters to full bands. While my earlier work focused on larger music venues, I am increasingly drawn to the small, intimate performance spaces of Laramie, WY, and its surrounding communities.
My interests in Nocturne include the space between the act of performing and an expression of self-reflection, a momentary inward state of mind as if to connect with one’s self; working with the drama of dimly or professionally lit performance stages to explore darkness and brilliance; and capturing the fractional instant when movement, self-reflection, and composition find resonance.
I am challenged by working in available light, hand-holding my camera, and negotiating the crowds to capture a composition that becomes an aesthetic, poetic, reflective experience. I do not consider this work as documentary and am not as interested in the name-recognition of the performers as I am in my personal exploration of image-making in black and light.
I am not a musician but have had a life-long interest in live music; one that has re-emerged through this work as this community in which I have lived since 1991 has increasingly become one of singers, songwriters, local bands, and musicians traveling through from elsewhere who contribute to the fabric of musical experiences.
Nocturne was an ongoing investigation until the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic when live, in-person music abruptly ended.
Technical informaiton.
Images are digitally captured and printed with archival pigment inks on fine art photographic paper. Images sizes: 12 x 18 inches, 14 x 21 inches or 16 x 24 inches.