In 2023, I was inspired by a curiosity about self-reflection as a pictorial idea and an interest in what I might do photographically with the historic downtown area of Laramie, WY, a subject I have quietly observed for more than 30 years.
My approach to image-making is an accumulation of methods I have adopted over time—composing in-camera at the time of exposure, processing my digital captures in Photoshop to transform color images into black-and-white, and making tonal adjustments, such as dodging and burning.
I have used my presence in images in several ways over the years, interjecting my hand or shadow into landscapes, performing with fabrics in front of the camera lens, and, more recently, considering using my reflections in picture glass or windowpanes.
Through this, I am exploring time, place, and identity through Laramie’s history, vernacular architecture, western iconography, and mythology, as well as my personal history in a place I have lived longer than anywhere else in my life. The images are visually complex, with interior and exterior perspectives seen simultaneously, and new relationships among time, place, and my presence.
