Photo Joiners Artist Statement

Each photo joiner displayed here is made up of individual, unique photographs; none are duplicated or edited. Each photo, and the larger construction of which it is apart, is meant to carry temporal as well as spacial meaning. I am drawn to the way these constructions capture my feelings of profound dysphoria with the current socio-political milieu while still managing to notice beauty in the details.

The images are captured using the native camera application for an iPhone 16 Pro or Leica M10. No other applications or artificial intelligence tools are used at any point in the process of capturing the images or building the digital and analogue constructions. I transfer the files from my iPhone or sometimes a memory card from a Leica M10 via my Macintosh computer into Adobe Photoshop and build each construction photo by photo, usually in the sequence they were taken. The iPhone photos are in a 3X4 inch size ratio and so depending on the number of photos in the construction, I will print them as either 3X4 or 6X8 inch satin prints on archival photo paper. In Photoshop, I reproduce the grid from a sheet of gridded vellum over the digital construction, and use it to (re)produce the analogue construction. The photographs are adhered to the vellum using diluted Elmer’s glue, whereupon the excess vellum on the edges are trimmed off. The vellum-backed analogue construction is then glued to ¼ or ½ inch thick reinforced masonite painted black. The constructions are not covered with glass nor other transparency.

Some of the photo joiners can be quite large, such as Bear Fence Trail, which using 112 - 6X8 prints, is mounted on a 9-foot tall reinforced masonite board. Others, like Taughannock Falls which is comprised of far fewer photos, is mounted on an 8X16 inch masonite board.

My fascination with photo joiners began in 1988 when I saw a David Hockney retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of New York, and in particular one of his Pearblossom Highway constructions. I made a few photo joiners since then, but I never committed to developing a practice until April of 2025, after my career in international development came to a sudden end. I was unsure what to expect or how I would I put these constructions together, so I remain on a journey trying new approaches and subjects.