Sea/Saw

Life comes together in mysterious ways. 2012 began a series of events that made that little bell in my ear, ring attention, attention. That year my brilliant father succumbed to Alzheimer’s. I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. My husband and I were both leaving unfulfilling jobs and we were longing to return to a place we loved. In 2014, after years in Chicago I hit the road with my husband and dog. We now live in the Suwannee River Basin in north central Florida amongst, woods, rivers and springs.  I know these waters; I have photographed in rivers and springs of this region for years. Much of my series The Mark of Water: Florida’s Springs and Swamps was photographed here. I now am discovering new places and photographing with new exhilaration. Freshwater is the link and my spirit is full of joy as I swim in it each and every morning come rain or shine.

Also during this time of flux I received an invitation from the Pittsburgh based Carnegie Museum of Art and the CREATE Lab (robotics) at Carnegie Mellon University. Serendipity was in the air. You see I happen to be a Pittsburgh girl, and I grew up in this museum. I was invited to participate in a project with a select group of contemporary artists, using an innovation called GigaPan. Simply stated, if that is possible, I was given a standard digital camera, a robotic camera mount with tripod and custom stitch software with the idea of making Gigapans. Translate; these panoramas surface from numerous photographs of a specific landscape. Each taken within seconds/minutes of one another, phenomenally large, yet remarkably crisp panoramas with enormous detail, all captured in the context of a single highly complex photo. Time is stretched and becomes fluid. The pictures are truthful to what was there, but not in a simple moment. The images can exceed our perceptual capacities. The artists were given this equipment and told to play and push limits in the context of our own artwork.  Got your George Jetson on yet?

Of course different things inspire different artists. I’m forever moved by water. Here is the flipside, the camera and robot are not waterproof and the reason I was invited was my “innovative photographing in and around water.” The last piece of equipment I received from the project was a waterproof housing for the little camera. I swam, dived, snorkeled and made very different pictures. That said, even if I would attempt to behave like the robot under water, which I did frequently, it was impossible for me to see the way I would with the aid of the robot. Reflections, refractions, and magnification the whole deal is different. It was impossible for me to see the way I did with the aid of the robot but it sure made for some very interesting pictures, see saw, Sea/Saw.

The bottom line is, I care very much for these waters and I enjoy making uncommon photos of them and in them. We all know that water is an endangered resource, that’s no secret here. But water is my fascination, my home, my health my solace and my concern. I will speak about water through my photographs for as long as I can. With each series I create I hope to engage viewers in new ways. Even the smallest bit shared of my experience is important.