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“I believe we learn by practice. Whether it means to learn to dance by practicing dancing or to learn to live by practicing living, the principles are the same. In each, it is the performance of a dedicated, precise set of acts, physical or intellectual, from which come shapes of achievement, a sense of one’s being, a satisfaction of spirit. One becomes in some area an athlete of God — practice means to perform over and over again…it is a means of inviting the perfection desired.” ~ Martha Graham The rose was at its peak. I had watched it bloom in my garden with quiet anticipation. The moment had finally arrived for me to photograph it with just enough light caressing its perfect beauty.I was ready.The initial shooting was in color and the rose remains today residing on my easel in the back of the gallery.She was (and is) titled Renoir’s Rose... soft gossamer light, luscious velvet petals, and delicate color all said Renoir to me.I was finished. I got what I wanted. A steady light rain began several hours later. After the summer shower, I visited the rose again.It had transformed into another subject having been christened by the rain. Drops still clung to her petals some of which sagged while others folded into themselves.I decided to simply photograph her in black and white for no other purpose but the doing of it, the “practice”.Unlike the earlier photo session, I had no plan and just kept photographing her becoming more and more immersed into the loveliness and mystery of her inner qualities — sensuality, eroticism and a quintessential feminine being. These sepia tinted prints were produced and printed in my studio on one of the most luscious archival photographic papers available today:Cranes Museo Silver Rag.This is an open edition and I hope that you enjoy walking into the beauty of this one rose, which was a Zen meditation and study for me…in black and white.  |
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Studio at 54 Fyke Road |
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