[T4Texas]

Photography is one of the few passions I have left in life. I have sold work in a gallery before, but am really more interested in photography for the pleasure it gives me rather than the monetary value to be gained from it. I began photographing years ago to acquire subjects for paintings I wanted to do. Over time, I found photography to be a more creative medium for me and I gave up painting and took up photography.
My favorite subjects are architectural, abandoned buildings, roadside americana (cafes, gas stations, motels, tourist traps). My most recent project for the last few years has been documenting the small towns of Texas which I call Rural Texas in the 21st Century and currently contains about 2000 images. My camera choices are an old Nikon FG film camera which takes wonderful pictures despite being old and has the advantage of being used either fully manually or fully auto which greatly expands your creativity. I also have a Nikon coolpix digital which I love equally for its ease of use and ability to preview your shots. I have also worked with medium format and larger cameras.
My favorite photographers tend to be the older documentary style people like the WPA photographers of the 30's/40's. People like Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, Margaret Bourke White and such. Probably my all time favorite is a frenchman named Brassai. He was from the same time period and did a lot of night photography. His book, The Secret Paris of the 30's, is a wonderful read in which he photographed the seamier side of life from prostitutes, to dance halls and his pictures of a lesbian bar with women dressed in tuxedos enjoying their evenings are fabulous and certainly worth a look.