In Transit
These photographs record the extraordinary in the ordinary related to mass transit in New York City. “The only difference between men and boys is the size of their toys” is a well-worn quotation with sexist and even sexual overtones: nevertheless, the comment characterizes not only my long-standing interest in large, iconic machines, but also the important buildings, popular culture and landscapes, all symbolic of the United States and its great cities. When I made the transition from studying design history to photography I combined these themes with an interest in trains, planes and automobiles.
Innocent Abroad
These photographs are a personal perspective of the European Grand Tour. Inspired by Mark Twain’s Innocents Abroad, I recently printed these black and white analog photographs as a latter day naïf. Some are humorous views of fellow tourists; visual comments on the monuments or types—most well known but some not—of art, architecture, landscape architecture and animals; and pictures of contemporary Europeans and culture.
Though a native New Yorker, I spent part of my youth in Utah skiing the “greatest snow on earth.” After briefly studying photography, I began graduate school in art history in 1980 at the University of Chicago, reputed to be “the place where fun goes to die.” To prepare for graduate study, I took the Grand Tour of European capitols to learn about art and architecture. En route I recorded my feelings.
