21-JUN-2004
Underground army of terracotta warriors, Xian, China, 2004
The vast terracotta armies guarding the underground tomb of China’s first emperor occupy several "pits." Pit number one is the largest excavation so far, and sprawls across 16,000 square meters. The soldiers in the front have been restored and placed in their original positions. If you look carefully at the detail within this photograph, you can see that there are piles of broken figures behind them, awaiting eventual reconstruction. And you’ll find much more, as well. And that’s why I find this image so fascinating. The closer you study this detail, the more you will discover. There is always great pleasure and satisfaction in studying images depending largely upon detail to work, and this is one of those photographs. I used a wideangle lens to grasp the entire scene, and let my viewers explore it for meaning.
27-JUN-2004
Private shrine, Lhasa, Tibet, 2004
This Buddhist shrine is filled with not only ceremonial objects, but also monetary offerings and a photograph of the late Panchen Lama and his family. I photographed this shrine in the bedroom of a family we visited in Lhasa because of its wealth of detail, which contains incongruous juxtapositions both ironic and tragic. To see this former Panchen Lama – the second most important figure in Tibetan culture after the Dalai Lama -- and Mao appear within the same image in the context of private worship, is astounding. Mao was responsible for triggering mass persecution of the Tibetan Buddhists during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s, and this Panchen Lama spent ten years in solitary confinement. He died in 1989. Yet here they both are, appearing together as small details within a shrine offering devotion to the very religion that Mao’s government so ruthlessly persecuted.
20-JUN-2004
Jade Deity, Beijing, China, 2004
A lavish and no doubt very expensive jade sculpture stands in the doorway of Beijing restaurant. it represents, appropriately, an ancient god of wealth and good fortune. It is also a treasure of detail. Particularly note the strings of coins in the upper left hand corner, and the variety of foods, flowers, and dragons that make up the sculpture. This photograph, which represents wealth, acquires its own value through the sum total of its detail.
15-APR-2004
Detail, Balboa Park Botanical Garden, San Diego, California, 2004
I tried to make a photograph that captured the era in which the graceful building housing Balboa Park’s amazing botanical specimens was built. To do this, I picked out a distinctive section of wall near the building’s entrance, lined with rectangles and spheres. Using the bold, deep shadows cast by the mid-day sun, I photographed them from an angle that brought them together as a series of rhythmic patterns embodying the design of the 1930s. These details are only a tiny part of the vast structure, but to me, they best represented the building’s design origins.
15-APR-2004
Detail, Yucca, Cabrillo National Park, San Diego, California, 2004
A close vantage point reveals the teeth on the edges of these Yucca leaves that give this exotic desert plant a weapon of self-defense. The morning light gives a three-dimensional look to these leaves, as well as underscoring a smooth surface that contrasts strongly to the spiked edges. From a distance, these plants might appear to be just another plant species. But when such details as these are stressed, they become tenacious defenders.
26-DEC-2003
El Morro, Arica, Chile, 2003
Soaring 328 feet higher over the Northern Chilean city of Arica is a rocky hill known as El Morro. At its summit a Chilean flag flies in commemoration of its capture by Chilean troops in a war against Peru and Bolivia in 1880. Most visitors to Arica are taken to the top of this rock to gaze out over the city. I stood at the bottom and used a wideangle converter lens to photograph the top portion of the rock outlined against the cotton-like clouds fanning out overhead. The key to this shot rests on one small detail – the flag. Half of it is red, the most vibrant color of them all. While small in size, this detail becomes the focal point of this picture.
23-DEC-2003
Street Market, Lima, Peru, 2003
As our tour bus rolled through the colorful streets of the Peruvian capital, I saw the colors in this scene, pressed the lens to the window, and took this picture. As I reviewed it, I was struck by the wealth of story telling details. The table is full of food for sale – we are looking at all or part of a local street market. The walls and old door are covered with the remains of posters. One of them carries the name of the city, and gives this picture an instant sense of place. But these details merely confirm the setting. The real meaning is in other details. A woman holds a child on her lap as he drinks from a bottle. Another woman sits behind the market table, holding her head in her hand. Are they related? The woman with the child wears bright red. Is she a customer? Or does she help run the enterprise? I would like to be able to say that I was conscious of all of these details before I took the picture. But I wasn’t. I sensed that the situation was worth shooting, and made the picture before I had time to think about why I was doing it. It was purely a matter of intuition. The details came later.
25-DEC-2003
Abandoned Car, Atacama Desert, Chile, 2003
The National Geographic Magazine has called the Atacama “the driest place on earth…where the dead live forever and where hope never dies.” I spent a number of memorable days visiting this desert – a place where it never rains and nothing rots. Artifacts such as this old car are everywhere. I did not choose to shoot the whole car. Instead, I got down on my knees in the dust to make this picture because of its detail – a wheel, coated in dusty brown rust, a tire embraced by the sand, and a twig without a hint of life. But the details that struck me most were the thorns on that twig. They are as nasty and unforgiving as the Atacama. If we came back in 100 years, it will all still be here.
21-DEC-2003
A Tuna’s Eye, Manta, Ecuador, 2003
Just as this net full of dead Tuna was about to be transferred from a fishing boat to a truck in Manta’s harbor, I gestured to a fisherman to stop the transfer for a moment and allow a moment for me to make a picture. I saw a detail in the net that summed up the purpose and process of this business – to find, catch, kill and sell fish. I brought my camera to within inches of the wet net, and made this picture. It is built around a single eye, glazed over in death, staring back through the net at us.
07-AUG-2002
Caviar, Siberia, Russia, 2002
The residents of a small Siberian fishing village welcomed us with tables laden with caviar, served on slices of white bread. Caviar is very small, and when photographed from any distance, it appears very much like jam. Only by moving in as close as my lens allowed could I capture details such as the coloration, texture, and shape of the tiny fish eggs known as caviar. I made these eggs as large as possible, however I also made sure to retain some context for scale. The slices of bread tell us how small caviar really is.
21-APR-2003
Lace, Budapest, Hungary, 2003
The beauty of lace rests in its complexity. To best define the nature of such complexity, I moved to within a few inches of the subect and photographed its intricate detail. To me, this detail speaks of the skill and ingenuity that Hungarian artisans bring to their work. If had photographed this lace from farther back, it is only lace. By stressing its detail, it becomes a work of art.
25-APR-2003
Vestment, Abbey of Melk, Austria, 2003
The wealth and power of the medieval church is symbolized by this ancient vestment woven from golden threads. Instead of showing the entire vestment, I moved in to stress its elegant design and construction, revealing detail that makes it become a more universal symbol of authority. If I had chosen instead to photograph the entire vestment, I would have just produced a literal, descriptive picture of a museum exhibit.
