WaterWorks grew out of my 40+ year <AutoWorks> series (black and white self-portraits that were small, diaristic, intimate, and laminated like IDs so they could be held in the hand) and an interest in sexy/klutzy/serene paintings related to bathing (Degas, Manet, Morisot, Bonnard). And I’ve always been interested in poking at the tenuous demarcation between what’s public and what’s private.
Making self-portraits implies welcoming surprises. The photographer–both as subject and as creator–must allow for compositional accidents. Shooting WaterWorks, I realized that the interaction between light and water decreases situational control while simultaneously creating unexpected, sometimes startling results. The images run the gamut from very clean to very strange with a lot of quirk and beauty and magic in between.
WaterWorks deals with time and aging and demonstrates a willingness to be exposed and vulnerable though it is not just because I’m the subject. I welcome the challenge of creating intimate – though not confessional – pictures where I have to be present in all senses of the word.