REO Images Artist Statement

As a long time local photographer and curator of one of Long Island’s longest running photo events call PEACE  I am best known for  “Out-of-the-Box Images” that are colorful and unexpected.  In my collection you will find images to be dramatic as well as inspirational.  You will encounter some very unique images I print not only on photo and art paper, but aluminum, mirror, canvas, Plexiglas and even birch wood.  Some images, such as the dark “Religious Experience,” the colorful “Montreal Graffiti Train,” and whimsical “Medusa Swan” challenge traditional concepts of artistic form and technical norm. “Morning Call 9/11” is reminiscent of that unforgettable darkest day when the World Trade Center came down in 2001.  The “Van Gogh Bridge” looks so much like a painting that some ask to touch it to see if there are really brush strokes on the canvas it is printed on.  In the era of selfies and cell phones, serious photographers are challenged to produce images superior and different from those taken by the casual point-and-shoot photo enthusiasts.  Indeed some of the techniques I developed push the state-of-the-art to accomplish my vision.  Images in this collection have stories and unique creative processes.

I have loved photography and won many awards over a 60 year period.  Awards include 2019 Grand Prize winner in the B&H Photo’s annual OPTIC Event, Suffolk County  “Grand Champion”-2008, North Shore Art Guild’s Exhibitions Gallery Best-in-Show-August 2016, as well as multiple awards over the past 4 years of the Riverhead Free Library Friends PEACE Photo Contest including “Friends Award” 2016 and my first award- “best-n show’ in 1976 at the First Transparency Photo Grumman Competition

In addition to being Curator of the annual Photography Exhibition and Competition Event (PEACE) since 2017,  I have started new activities in the Riverhead area including a travel club and photography club that will permit members to share vacation experiences and pictures monthly.  I teach group and private photography sessions specializing in shooting images in the digital world.

Another aspect of my art is photo restoration and preservation.  I love to restore old memories by digitizing old fading images and bringing them back to life.  The best way to preserve and enjoy these precious memories is to make a book of these images that can be passed on to future generations.

My recommendation is to view each image individually and as a collection of “out-of-the-box” experiences, unburdened by conventional expectation. Enjoy the experience and welcome to my world!