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Submitted by Piner 02/13/06 8:22 AM GMT
You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension. A dimension of sight... a dimension of mind... a dimension of pixels. You are moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into... caedes' Artist Spotlight. I submit for your approval...Regmar and his gallery.
Hello friends. Summoning up all the false modesty I can find I say, "Who me? Featured Artist? Why I AM surprised!" No I can't pull it off. Really though it is quite an honor to be nominated. I get a lot of feedback on my images, but one never knows whether it really amounts to a hill of beans. Thank you to whoever nominated me for this honor.
I'm 42 years old and firmly established in my software development career. I started in New Orleans, and moved to Austin, Texas, but returned to New Orleans when I began losing the older members of my family and came to realize that my family is more important than my career.
While in Texas I began traveling internationally (usually to the same part of southern France actually), and began to photograph my travels. Family and friends pushed me to do more, so I hit on the idea of recording as much of what I saw before it changed forever. I had never recognized any artistic ability in myself as a child, and was told by my homophobic and abusive father (He's dead now - see what it got him?) that art would not be tolerated among his sons, so I never pursued it. It wasn't until years after I was grown that I realized that a void existed in me that I needed to fill. The interactions of light and color, shapes and movement began to intrigue me. Since my halting attempts at the pencil and brush were so dreadful I returned to my camera, and an old friend named Karly helped me to recognize that I had ability that was worth developing. Thus was born the obsession with photography that has led me to this sorry condition.
Three years ago after forty years of blissful singularity I met my wife, Lourdes who changed everything for me. She pushed me to do more photography, and I quickly outgrew my (wonderful) *** Panasonic Lumix *** digital camera and moved up to the *** Olympus eVolt E300 *** DSLR that I use today. Its 300mm zoom lens has proven invaluable in catching those far-away subjects like animals and mountain-top castles. A job change last year put me in the position of commuting 120 miles a day across the swamps of South Louisiana, and I got the opportunity to see (and photograph) it in its many moods. This is where much of my outdoor work originated, and where my "In Terms Of Light" image was shot, and I only regret that I shot it with my old (lower resolution) camera and not my new one. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita which both hit my home within the same month period increased my feeling of urgency about recording this place before it is destroyed. I'm trying to talk my wife into letting me get a fast 400mm zoom lens and a small open boat, so I can get back into the marshes where the wildlife live, and where I don't have to worry about whether an unwanted house or power line is in the frame.
My wife and I also like to travel, and together we have explored parts of Spain and France as well as several spots in the United States, and we work well together shooting photos. She has a knack for seeing things that would make good images. Since she is a Cuban exile we both look forward to the day we can go to a free Cuba do a shoot there.
Just before I met her I made another discovery that was to change my life. While searching the internet for desktop wallpaper for my computer I saw a site called (inexplicably) "Caedes", and found a place where my halting efforts were encouraged and where the people suggested ways for me to improve my work rather than just giving off-hand comments. Its benign yet distant creator allowed the community of users the freedom to create the sort of place they wanted instead of imposing his will. I discovered the magnificent body of work by Pierre Pigeon which inspired me tremendously, the sadly missed Accipiter, and the amazing works of Photoimagery, fotobob, Mayne, Mesmerized, and Pom1 among the many others who have inspired me and my work. The people here have given me suggestions for improving my work which I have taken to heart and tried to pass on to others also here to learn. Thank you Caedes, and thank you to the wonderful people here who teach and learn and who evolve our art. The quality of work here has dramatically improved over the past two years, and I see it continuing into the future.
