A Photographers Place Opening Exhibition

Image title and description 1: “Abandon” explores the desolation and hidden beauty of forgotten spaces. Centered on a solitary, industrial building with barred windows and a closed entrance, the piece evokes a strong sense of place and mystery. Set against a surreal landscape, the building stands as a quiet witness to a past life, drawing viewers into its untold story. The environment contrasts fiery golds and oranges with cooler blues and smoky whites, creating a striking atmosphere that heightens the tension between isolation and the natural world. These tones, paired with a mix of realism and abstract texture, invite reflection on the relationship between place and time. Part of the Golden Series, “Abandon” uses gold foil textures not just for embellishment but to deepen the emotional resonance of the scene. The gold adds richness, symbolizing the former significance of these derelict spaces, which now linger quietly, waiting to be remembered. Inspired by local abandoned buildings, the artwork captures their forgotten history and the beauty within their decay.
Image title and description 2: “Incoming Storm In Gold” captures the atmosphere of a seascape at dawn, blending traditional French techniques with modern photography to create a deep connection to place. The swirling gold textures evoke the changing sky and sea, grounding the viewer in a moment of calm before the storm. This artwork explores how light and movement transform familiar surroundings into something extraordinary, inviting reflection on the power of nature. Part of the Golden Series, it reimagines the sunrise with the timeless elegance of a medieval gilded painting, offering a fresh perspective on place and time.
Image title and description 3: "Jobe’s Ocean" captures the serene meeting of sky and sea at dawn, where the golden glow of the sky contrasts with the deep blue of the ocean. This balance of light and movement creates a tranquil yet dynamic sense of place, evoking the peacefulness of the shoreline. Inspired by Renaissance paintings on gilded canvases, this photographic composite blends the timeless richness of gold with modern techniques. The result is a fusion of classic and contemporary styles, offering a fresh perspective on the natural beauty and harmony of the seascape.
Image title and description 4: "Moon on the Back Road," part of the Golden Series, blends digital composite photography with gold foil textures to evoke the serene, magical feeling of a moonlit road near my childhood home. The moon’s soft glow illuminates the trees, casting long shadows, creating a deep connection to place and memory. The dreamlike quality of the piece balances nature’s calm with surreal touches, while subtle hints of pink, inspired by Asian art and cherry blossom depictions, add softness to the scene. The moon serves as the focal point, casting light across the landscape, with gold foil adding a timeless, reflective glow.
Image title and description 5: “Tall Grass In Gold” captures the quiet beauty of a rural landscape, where amber-toned reeds sway gently in the breeze. Amidst the natural scene, a derelict white house stands as a solitary focal point, contrasting with the warmth of the surroundings. The rich golden tones and the house’s isolation evoke a sense of solitude and tranquility, inviting viewers to connect with the peacefulness of forgotten spaces. This piece highlights the serene, understated charm of rural life, offering a moment of reflection on place and time.

Image title and description 1: Colonial Farm. View of the National Colonial Farm at Piscataway National Park and its 18th century tobacco barn. Local Canada Geese (non-migrant) take over the fields in winter.
Image title and description 2: Sacred Tobacco. Kyla, a local farmhand, helps with weed removal at a tobacco farm. The farm, owned by a new generation Piscataway farmer, grows tobacco for spiritual and medicinal use.
Image title and description 3: Native Sheep. A flock of Hog Island Sheep seek shelter from the rain under a pine tree. Hog Island Sheep are currently on the critically endangered list.
Image title and description 4: Piscataway Nation. Apache, a Piscataway/Apache descendant, stands by the Potomac River at Moyaone, the ancestral capital of the Piscataway chiefdom. The Piscataway consider these grounds sacred.
Image title and description 5: . Vestiges of History. The remnants of an old house at Port Tobacco. The area was originally Piscataway land but in 1634 became part of a Catholic church where the first Piscataway chief was converted to Christianity. This was also where the first Charles County Fair was held in 1924.

Image title and description 1: DREAMS Created with obsolete professional Fuji instant camera (F2) and expired Fuji instant film. Instant print is scanned and enlarged. Image size: 15.5" x 20" Created: 2024
Image title and description 2: BLOODWORK Created with obsolete professional Fuji instant camera (F2) and expired Fuji instant film. Instant print is scanned and enlarged. Image size: 15.5" x 20" Created: 2024
Image title and description 3: ONCE Created with obsolete professional Fuji instant camera (F2) and expired Fuji instant film. Instant print is scanned and enlarged. Image size: 15.5" x 20" Created: 2024
Image title and description 4: THE PAST AND FUTURE MEMORIES Created with obsolete professional Fuji instant camera (F2) and expired Fuji instant film. Instant print is scanned and enlarged. Image size: 15.5" x 20" Created: 2024
Image title and description 5: MY CORNER Created with obsolete professional Fuji instant camera (F2) and expired Fuji instant film. Instant print is scanned and enlarged. Image size: 15.5" x 20" Created: 2024

State: NY

Image title and description 1: Unknown Number- Shell, 584 Columbus Ave, Boston, MA 02118 From my series "Life-Lines Throughout the United States" This body of work is a companion series to my project, “Felicific Calculus: Technology as a Social Marker of Race, Class, & Economics in Rochester, NY,” to demonstrate how communities throughout the United States are facing the same dire situation. Throughout the United States, many individuals are being left behind by technology, whether that is for communication or Internet access. Our society has become one in which you must have access to these tools to be provided support services and a job, or you are left behind, widening the gap between the lower and middle classes. Often, this outdated technology is also used to label individuals or areas of a community where they can be found as social markers without further knowledge. The individuals I have met who still rely on payphones have stated, "I hate how people look at me like I am doing something wrong when I am using the payphone.” Those individuals have explained that they are typically calling their families to check in or for support. My work aims to raise the following questions: how do we ensure access to basic needs for a sustainable community, such as communication, shelter, and food, without labeling those relying on support? Why has the United Kingdom decided to save their iconic payphones, convert them to digital ones, and install other emergency necessities such as defibrillators in the red booths? Once the payphones are gone, how will we communicate in a natural disaster similar to Hurricane Katrina & Sandy? The payphone may be a symbol of a different era. Still, we must remember how we use technology as a social marker and often forget those individuals who cannot keep up with fundamental technological advancements.
Image title and description 2: Unknown Number- Dandy Mini Mart, 85 Front St New Albany, PA 18833 From my series "Life-Lines Throughout the United States" This body of work is a companion series to my project, “Felicific Calculus: Technology as a Social Marker of Race, Class, & Economics in Rochester, NY,” to demonstrate how communities throughout the United States are facing the same dire situation. Throughout the United States, many individuals are being left behind by technology, whether that is for communication or Internet access. Our society has become one in which you must have access to these tools to be provided support services and a job, or you are left behind, widening the gap between the lower and middle classes. Often, this outdated technology is also used to label individuals or areas of a community where they can be found as social markers without further knowledge. The individuals I have met who still rely on payphones have stated, "I hate how people look at me like I am doing something wrong when I am using the payphone.” Those individuals have explained that they are typically calling their families to check in or for support. My work aims to raise the following questions: how do we ensure access to basic needs for a sustainable community, such as communication, shelter, and food, without labeling those relying on support? Why has the United Kingdom decided to save their iconic payphones, convert them to digital ones, and install other emergency necessities such as defibrillators in the red booths? Once the payphones are gone, how will we communicate in a natural disaster similar to Hurricane Katrina & Sandy? The payphone may be a symbol of a different era. Still, we must remember how we use technology as a social marker and often forget those individuals who cannot keep up with fundamental technological advancements.
Image title and description 3: Unknown Number- US Gas, 298 Kings Hwy N, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034 From my series "Life-Lines Throughout the United States" This body of work is a companion series to my project, “Felicific Calculus: Technology as a Social Marker of Race, Class, & Economics in Rochester, NY,” to demonstrate how communities throughout the United States are facing the same dire situation. Throughout the United States, many individuals are being left behind by technology, whether that is for communication or Internet access. Our society has become one in which you must have access to these tools to be provided support services and a job, or you are left behind, widening the gap between the lower and middle classes. Often, this outdated technology is also used to label individuals or areas of a community where they can be found as social markers without further knowledge. The individuals I have met who still rely on payphones have stated, "I hate how people look at me like I am doing something wrong when I am using the payphone.” Those individuals have explained that they are typically calling their families to check in or for support. My work aims to raise the following questions: how do we ensure access to basic needs for a sustainable community, such as communication, shelter, and food, without labeling those relying on support? Why has the United Kingdom decided to save their iconic payphones, convert them to digital ones, and install other emergency necessities such as defibrillators in the red booths? Once the payphones are gone, how will we communicate in a natural disaster similar to Hurricane Katrina & Sandy? The payphone may be a symbol of a different era. Still, we must remember how we use technology as a social marker and often forget those individuals who cannot keep up with fundamental technological advancements.
Image title and description 4: Unknown Number- 2242 St Claude Ave, New Orleans, LA 70117 From my series "Life-Lines Throughout the United States" This body of work is a companion series to my project, “Felicific Calculus: Technology as a Social Marker of Race, Class, & Economics in Rochester, NY,” to demonstrate how communities throughout the United States are facing the same dire situation. Throughout the United States, many individuals are being left behind by technology, whether that is for communication or Internet access. Our society has become one in which you must have access to these tools to be provided support services and a job, or you are left behind, widening the gap between the lower and middle classes. Often, this outdated technology is also used to label individuals or areas of a community where they can be found as social markers without further knowledge. The individuals I have met who still rely on payphones have stated, "I hate how people look at me like I am doing something wrong when I am using the payphone.” Those individuals have explained that they are typically calling their families to check in or for support. My work aims to raise the following questions: how do we ensure access to basic needs for a sustainable community, such as communication, shelter, and food, without labeling those relying on support? Why has the United Kingdom decided to save their iconic payphones, convert them to digital ones, and install other emergency necessities such as defibrillators in the red booths? Once the payphones are gone, how will we communicate in a natural disaster similar to Hurricane Katrina & Sandy? The payphone may be a symbol of a different era. Still, we must remember how we use technology as a social marker and often forget those individuals who cannot keep up with fundamental technological advancements.
Image title and description 5: 215.854.9289- Land Title Building, 1400 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102 From my series "Life-Lines Throughout the United States" This body of work is a companion series to my project, “Felicific Calculus: Technology as a Social Marker of Race, Class, & Economics in Rochester, NY,” to demonstrate how communities throughout the United States are facing the same dire situation. Throughout the United States, many individuals are being left behind by technology, whether that is for communication or Internet access. Our society has become one in which you must have access to these tools to be provided support services and a job, or you are left behind, widening the gap between the lower and middle classes. Often, this outdated technology is also used to label individuals or areas of a community where they can be found as social markers without further knowledge. The individuals I have met who still rely on payphones have stated, "I hate how people look at me like I am doing something wrong when I am using the payphone.” Those individuals have explained that they are typically calling their families to check in or for support. My work aims to raise the following questions: how do we ensure access to basic needs for a sustainable community, such as communication, shelter, and food, without labeling those relying on support? Why has the United Kingdom decided to save their iconic payphones, convert them to digital ones, and install other emergency necessities such as defibrillators in the red booths? Once the payphones are gone, how will we communicate in a natural disaster similar to Hurricane Katrina & Sandy? The payphone may be a symbol of a different era. Still, we must remember how we use technology as a social marker and often forget those individuals who cannot keep up with fundamental technological advancements.

Image title and description 1: Val takes a break from brushing Jerry at Sinderhope Pony Trekking Centre, 2023.
Image title and description 2: Interior of the 17th-century bastle house at High Sinderhope Shield, 2023. A bastle house is a type of fortified farmhouse commonly found in Northumberland. They were built to withstand attacks from the border reivers, who troubled the Anglo-Scottish border for centuries.
Image title and description 3: Sheep feeding in the snow on East Garrett’s Hill, 2024.
Image title and description 4: Michael in the yard at High Sinderhope Shield, 2023.
Image title and description 5: Charlotte the hen at High Sinderhope Shield, 2023.

State: LA

Image title and description 1: Nkrumah Better Boys Second Line, Uptown, New Orleans. archival pigment print 16 by 20 inches from ongoing series of New Orleans Cultural Traditions
Image title and description 2: Young Men Olympian Jr. Benevolent Association Second Line, Central City, New Orleans archival pigment print 16 by 20 inches from ongoing series of New Orleans Cultural Traditions
Image title and description 3: Wayne Wheeler at Cross The Canal Steppers Second Line, Upper Ninth Ward, New Orleans archival pigment print 20 by 16 inches from ongoing series of New Orleans Cultural Traditions
Image title and description 4: Revolution Second Line, Treme, New Orleans archival pigment print 16 by 20 inches from ongoing series of New Orleans Cultural Traditions
Image title and description 5: Bad Boys Second Line, New Orleans archival pigment print 16 by 20 inches from ongoing series of New Orleans Cultural Traditions

Image title and description 1: Watching friends roll in. We would watch and wait as everyone would finally gather at the wast place.
Image title and description 2: Dawn tiptoeing through the grass. Dawn hated to think that there could be critters in the tall grass, but she till wouldn't wear shoes. It wasn't her style.
Image title and description 3: WP Marching Band. After our crab feast, there was always some light musical entertainment. we decided to end the weekend with a marching band.
Image title and description 4: Dancing in the Moonlight. I couldn't resist taking a selfie, dancing with one of my friends to some Grateful Dead playing on a car stereo.
Image title and description 5: Sunday Morning Reality. No one needed the sight of McMansions being built in the distance to know that our days there were over. We went our separate ways- but never lost touch with what we had and with who we were.