After more than 40 years as a teacher, administrator, and college president, I have turned to photography as my main focus in retirement. I am especially attracted to cultures at the intersection of tradition and modernity. My photographs both document the places I’ve visited, and also share the beauty of the people from different countries around the world. By bringing my images to a wider audience, I consider myself a new kind of teacher.
I am a member of the Maryland Federation of Art, Art League of Alexandria, Photographic Society of America, Northern Virginia Photographic Society, and North Bethesda Camera Club. My images have been chosen regularly for display at these organizations.
In addition, I will have solo shows in the next year at Photoworks at Glen Echo, Foundry Gallery, Friendship Heights Village Center, Goodwin House in Alexandria, and Homewood Cafe in Annapolis. In the past, I have mounted one-woman exhibits at MITRE corporate headquarters, Beanetics Coffee Roasters in Annandale, and the downtown library of Arizona State University.
Artist Statement
Over the last several years, my photography has focused on the intersection of tradition and modernity. I am fascinated by people who seek to maintain a vibrant cultural tradition, while at the same time desiring the benefits of the global economy. Navigating a balance is not easy; individuals in the same tribe, even the same village, find themselves at different points on this spectrum.
Even in cosmopolitan places such as Hong Kong, one finds interesting juxtapositions of the traditional and the modern. Global financiers reside in the same city as fishermen who live on their boats in ways unchanged for centuries.
Recent photographic journeys have ranged from Bhutan to Burma, Morocco to the Maasai Mara in Kenya. The strength of traditional values in these places is influenced by geographic isolation, environmental realities, government policies, poverty, and a host of other reasons, often in combination.
In each country, I have focused on the people, especially those who provide a glimpse of traditional life in their culture. Even without a common language, we are able to communicate through gestures and smiles; bilingual guides enhance mutual understanding. Beneath the specific characteristics of a given culture lie our common goals: personal happiness, family stability, and a sense of purpose and meaning in life.
I hope the viewers of my photos are intrigued by places and cultures they may never experience in real life, at the same time that they recognize our common humanity.
