26-NOV-2014
Vintage police cars, Savannah, Georgia, 2014
Several old police cars are on exhibit just outside of the Savannah police headquarters. I use only two of them in this abstraction. I focused on the black car in the foreground and used the background car as softly focused context. The focal point of this image is the red searchlight mounted on the black car. Red is a color of urgency, emergency, danger, and pursuit. Its presence speaks of a patrol car’s function. The car itself looks much like any other car after I cropped the image to remove the police-car identity that was visible on the side of the car. However the red light is there to tell the story.
26-NOV-2014
Neo-Gothic synagogue, Savannah, Georgia, 2014
Savannah’s Congregation Mickve Israel was organized in 1735 -- the third oldest synagogue in the United States. This rare example of a neo-Gothic synagogue building was built in 1878. Designed by New York architect Henry G. Harrison, it reflects the fashionable architecture of the Victorian era, and looked very much like the neo-Gothic Presbyterian church that stood just 60 feet away until it was destroyed by fire in 1929. I abstract the building down to its essence here. I moved in to emphasize the shadow of the Star of David, a symbol of Judaism, which seems incongruously set within the church-like architectural embellishments . The warm late afternoon light creates a mellow mood, and the geometric windows and entrance trim on the right hand side of the image provide additional context.
26-NOV-2014
Bringing light out of darkness, Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Savannah, Georgia, 2014
The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah. French refugees from Haiti organized this congregation in 1799, and this cathedral was built one hundred years later. I feature a dramatic mural which is suffused in spiritual light, while the mural itself moves from darkness into the light supplied by two stained glass windows. Three ornate lanterns rhythmically lead the eye to the mural and the pair of stained glass windows. I base this image on the overall theme of bringing light out of darkness, an acknowledged function of religion itself.
26-NOV-2014
Evening, Colonial Park Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia, 2014
This cemetery, in the heart of Savannah, was the burying ground for the city from 1750 to 1833. Its brick tombs hold the remains of historical figures such as Button Gwinnett, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, 700 victims of the 1820 Yellow Fever epidemic, and one James Wilde, who fell in a duel here in 1815. The cemetery was already closed to burials when William Tecumseh Sherman’s Union soldiers took the city in December, 1864. Since the cemetery was the largest fenced area in the center of the city, Sherman used it as a grazing ground for his cavalry. (Some irreverent troopers may have even altered the dates on a number of tombstones.) Those who believe in ghosts frequently observe them here. I photographed Colonial Park Cemetery at the golden sunset hour, yet my favorite image works here much better in black and white than in color. I kept it very simple, using only the vertical façade of a brick tomb along with a pair of vertical tombstones arrayed beneath vertical strands of Spanish moss hanging from an old oak. This haunting image allows room for the viewers imagination to enter the scene and make of it what they will.
27-NOV-2014
Oyster roast, Hog Hammock, Sapelo Island, Georgia, 2014
Sapelo Island is a barrier island, reachable only by plane or boat. Visitors are only allowed here via organized tours. I visited Hog Hammock (population 47), an African-American community of Gullah and Geechee descent. Their unique linguistic and cultural heritage is preserved because they have always lived in relative isolation in rural areas such as Sapelo. Hog Hammock welcomed our group with an oyster roast. I abstract the man doing the roasting by photographing him in silhouette and surrounding him with smoke coming from the stove in the lower right part of the frame. This image appeals to several senses – we not only see the image, but can also imagine the smoky odor, the taste of the oysters, and listen to the crackle of the flames.
27-NOV-2014
A child’s dream, Hog Hammock, Sapelo Island, Georgia, 2014
I use scale incongruity to compare wheel sizes and thereby tell the story of a childhood dream. This child, pretending to drive a motorized scooter, seems completely absorbed in his own fantasies here. He does not notice that the small wheel of the scooter is incongruously placed adjacent to a massive truck wheel in the background. However I stress this linkage – the small wheel is sharply defined by morning light, while the massive truck wheel looms in the background shadows. I shifted my vantage point to place these wheels just inches apart. Both of these vehicles are blue, linking big with small, and making the dreams of childhood seemingly come to life.
27-NOV-2014
General Store, Hog Hammock, Sapelo Island, Georgia, 2014
It must seem like rush hour for the keeper of the only store in this isolated island community as a boatload of visitors visits his store at the same moment. Yet he was able to help each of us in turn, bringing a sense of dignity and patience to his task. I made this image while waiting in line to pay for my own purchase. He shows no sign of impatience as the person in front of me methodically explores her purse for loose change. Her orange sleeve draws the eye towards the shopkeeper’s shirt of similar color. This image is more a character study than a scene of a business transaction. For this moment in time, the world has come to Hog Hammock, and this shopkeeper becomes the face of the place.
27-NOV-2014
Barking up the old tree, Hog Hammock, Sapelo Island, Georgia, 2014
From a great distance, I thought I was seeing a black dog pawing the bark of this old tree. Upon closer inspection, I found that the animal in question was actually a flat piece of black metal shaped like a dog and adorned with a red painted collar. The illusion is so strong that even this photographic image may seem at first glance to show a “real dog,” at least until we see that the barking dog does not display the light on its back in the same manner the tree bark does. The play of light and shadow makes the tree seem three dimensional, while the dog presents itself in only two dimensions. The tree’s bark appears real, while the dog’s bark exists only in our imagination.
27-NOV-2014
Fountain, R.J. Reynolds mansion, Sapelo Island, Georgia, 2014
Three wealthy men dominate the history of Sapelo Island. In the early nineteenth century, Thomas Spalding purchased the island and developed it into a cotton, corn and sugar cane plantation. He brought 400 slaves to work on the plantation from West Africa and the West Indies, and build what would become the Spalding Mansion. Spalding died in 1851, and during the Civil War his mansion was vandalized and lay in ruins. His freed slaves established settlements on the island, including Hog Hammock. The next wealthy owner of the island was Howard Coffin, founder of the Hudson Motor Company. He purchased the entire island, except for the land owned by former slaves, for $150,000 in 1912. Coffin renovated and enlarged the Spalding house, creating an island paradise and drawing such guests as presidents Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover, as well as aviator Charles Lindbergh. The third owner of this mansion was tobacco tycoon R.J. Reynolds. He purchased Sapelo in 1933 and used this mansion as a part time residence for the next thirty years. Reynolds funded ecological research on the island, and his widow sold Sapelo to the state of Georgia in the early 70s. The mansion is now used as a lavish vacation center for groups of at least 16 people. The extravagant fountain that dominates the entrance to the mansion was partially drained when I made this photograph. I play with color here, featuring vertical bands of blues and greens, rising from the bottom of the image to the top, echoing the graceful gesture of the fountain’s sculpture as it reaches upwards through light and shadow.
27-NOV-2014
Solarium, R.J. Reynolds Mansion, Sapelo Island, Georgia, 2014
I photographed this sculpture through the solarium window of the Reynolds mansion, contrasting its glow to the colorful outdoor blossoms as well as the darkened holiday decorations place in an adjoining window. I draw these disparate elements together by framing them within the purple and rusty red stucco of the surrounding structure. The resulting image symbolizes the great wealth that made such a mansion possible.
27-NOV-2014
Lighthouse, Sapelo Island, Georgia, 2014
Master lighthouse builder Winslow Lewis built this historic lighthouse on Sapelo Island in 1820. It’s flashing light warned passing ships until 1908, when it ceased operation and fell into disrepair. It remained dark for almost a century, until it was rebuilt and relit in 1998. In this image, I abstract the lighthouse by photographing it as a silhouette. I stood in the shadow of the lighthouse, blocking the sun, and moving my position until I was able to find the spot where the sun passed through one of the lighthouse’s windows. The sole illuminated window becomes the incongruous focal point of the image. I also placed the lighthouse on the left side of the frame, allowing a silhouetted segment of foliage to occupy the right side, leaving only a tension-filled sliver of space between these elements. I present this image in black and white, which intensifies this abstract approach.
27-NOV-2014
A haunted place, Dunwody Building, Brunswick, Georgia, 2014
On March 6, 1915, Monroe Phillips, a mentally disturbed Brunswick real estate man convinced that six prominent Brunswick businessmen had stolen $25,000 from him, ran amuck in the center of downtown Brunswick. He killed five people, and wounded thirty two others with a shotgun before being gunned down by one of the wounded victims. The event was called as the “Brunswick Massacre.” The first person to die was Colonel Harry Dunwody, a former Brunswick mayor and a local lawyer. Dunwody was brutally murdered at his desk in his office on the second floor of this building, which still carries his name over its front door. A Dunwody client was shot in the face, but lived to tell the tale. An off-duty police officer was the second to die in the Dunwody Building, shot down by Phillips as he fled down the building’s stairs. A local judge, standing just behind the policeman, was wounded in the leg. The murderous spree continued on Brunswick’s main street, with Phillips taking three more lives and wounding another 30. In the midst of this mayhem, the wounded judge ran to a store, purchased a pistol, chased Phillips, and shot him dead. The massacre was over. It lasted just ten minutes. The Dunwody building still stands in the center of Brunswick, forever haunted by what happened here one hundred years ago. I made this image at sunset -- the ghostly forms of neighboring buildings reflect upon the office windows where the Brunswick Massacre began. The building still rents office suites on its second floor and retail spaces at street level.