Tones of Black and White

Tones of Black and White opens at the Open Shutter Gallery of Contemporary Photography in Durango, Colorado next Friday, January 10.  I am one of five photographers in the show, two of whom are luminaries, Mitch Dobrowner for his dramatic sky filled landscapes and the legendary Paul Caponigro for landmark still lifes and much more. James Cammack, Marshall Gould and I round out the roster. To be in a show with Paul Caponigro is pretty special and a major surprise.  I just learned about Paul and Mitch on Friday and have pretty much been walking on air since.

Included in the exhibition are eight images from my Fog Series, ones that were taken at the Presidio of San Francisco, Point Reyes National Seashore (both above), the Connecticut River Valley in Vermont (Just below) and the Maine coast. There's also one from a rare foggy day on my back forty here in Taos.

According to the press release from Margy Dudley at Open Shutter the show takes photography back to its visual roots and the photographers in the exhibition display elegant black and white images using different tones and perspectives. From Taos, NM Steve Immel’s sepia toned photographs of foggy landscapes elicit a feeling of quiet contemplation. Marshall Gould from Milpitas, CA provides crisp storytelling and composition. James Cammack from Bayfield, CO renders humorous and touching street photography. Mitch Dobrowner’s stunning black and white landscape photography and the timeless still lifes of legendary photographer Paul Caponigro complete the exhibition.

If you are know my Sketches of Winter series, the high contrast black and white photographs that resemble pen and ink drawings and have next to no midtones, you'll see that the images in the Fog Series are quite the opposite in that they are all about the grays,  toned as they may be. I've included a representative Sketch of Winter, Solo, to show how very different they are and yet how similar in abstraction and point of view. High key or low key they're all from the same warped mind.