Opportunities

During my professional life as a photographer and painter, I have been fortunate to be the recipient of numerous opportunities. For the most part, I have availed myself of many of these opportunities, most of which with extraordinary outcomes. Several personal and meaningful examples:

Years ago (1980s), my Mother took me to tea at her friend’s home in New Hampshire, where my Parents had relocated after retiring from their professional commitments in Brooklyn, NY. I was on summer holiday in New Hampshire and docilly accompanied my Mother to tea. Knowing that I was a painter, the hostess mentioned that her neighbor in Queens, NY was a portrait painter. “Call him,” she advised. “Maybe you can connect.” Upon returning to my home on Long Island, I took the opportunity to make the call. It turned out to be the most important call I ever made. Murray Miller was a master of traditional portrait painting and over time mentored me in all things art. Having gone to college and grad school in the 60s, I was painting abstracts and studying “modern art,” but my heart was with the traditionalists, such as Velasquez and even the more recent (relatively speaking) but still representational, John Singer Sargent. Taking this opportunity to call Murray Miller changed my painting trajectory and in many significant ways my perspective on art and life.

Fast forward to early 2000. I was mass-marketing art photography to big-box stores and was absorbing as much about the faster-than-film digital photography format as possible. At NYC’s Javits Center, I, along with about 3,000 other photographers, designers and artists, watched huge monitors detail the wonders of creating/tweaking computer images. By chance, a man was sitting next to me, who was about my age and also new to the relatively nascent technology. I started a conversation and we chatted a little during the long day of the ins & outs of Photoshop. Exchanging business cards, we promised to stay in touch. We did attend a few more conferences together. It turned out that my gentleman neighbor-at-the-convention was Life Magazine Photographer Bill Ray. As we became friends, Bill gave me some invaluable photography pointers. He also nominated me for membership in a prestigious, private club in Manhattan, whose membership consisted of writers, photographers, artists and other notables. This opportunity decidedly changed my life by significantly broadening my network and introducing me to inspiring and uniquely aesthetic ideas and wonderful new friends.

My third example of personal opportunities is most recent. I began to utilize social media as a means to gain exposure and criticism for my photography around 2007. Linkedin, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter (now X) all seemed exciting and available ways to post my photography and occasionally my paintings. I must admit that these platforms, all having their unique or crossover subscribers, continue to remain a wonderful way to exhibit my photographs and paintings. A good deal of social media also exposed my sensibilities to a vast number of possibilities for inspiring my work, learning new (for me) photography and art techniques and gaining quite an education in subjects, such as astronomy, social science, history and a myriad of others.  Even more so, I have met some truly wonderful friends, most virtual, through social media. Several years ago, Linkedin gave me the friendship of the brilliant writer, editor, publisher Mikhail Nemtsov.

Mikhail Nemtsov commented on some of my photography posts and I responded. Eventually a friendship blossomed and we shared stories about our lives. As a shy and private person, I do not usually post any personal information on social media. However, a few of my social media contacts have become dear friends as if I knew them in reality…..or as real as it gets these days.

Mikhail decided to critique several of my photographs through his conception of the images, what they represented to him and my pictures’ relevance to himself as a viewer. He became engrossed in discussing and examining the photographs and his thoughts fascinated and pleased me. I am a visceral artist/photographer. I see an image with my eyes and that image goes to my hands to create it. I rarely think about my subjects; the only significant consideration I consciously think about is the light and how it brings out form. The light causes me to point my lens in certain directions; arrange a still life in a particular fashion; photograph or paint a scene from a specific vantage point. However, Mikhail’s brilliant mind found layers upon layers of meaning in my photographs. Like pealing an onion, Mikhail uncovered a thread of explanation as to why a road wound its way to a certain point or an implication in the way an object was placed in a composition. I was/am amazed and delighted to have my photographs viewed with such depth and sensitivity.

As Mikhail and I communicated via Linkedin, we decided to collaborate on a book featuring Mikhail’s marvelously insightful and splendid writing and my photography, interspersed with several icon artworks by famous masters for emphasis. The opportunity I was offered with this wonderful undertaking has been and continues to be a joy for me. Too, I continue to learn quite a bit about my own work. Opportunities present themselves and with them often come great rewards. I have been fortunate thus far and will continue to welcome and look forward to the opportunities in my future AND to completing Mikhail Nemtsov’s and my book!