a few more images from 6 Weeks

glacier melt near Whittier, Ak

pier on the Homer Spit, Ak

I have spent the last couple of weeks editing for the website, and getting ready for Fall classes at Sweet Briar. In looking over all the digital images, I find myself trying to remember what else was going on outside the boundaries of the camera, and how much I can conjure up the feelings that accompanied that particular place... what was the air temperature, what did it smell like, what made me want to stop?
There is always a struggle between what I want a photograph to look like, and what I can actually make it look like, given the parameters that I am working within. I have never been much of a journalist type photographer, but this trip made me realize how much I wanted to come back telling the truth of what I had seen. By that, I mean the truth of the feeling, since it was impossible to tell the truth of the place.

plato's ghost

my wonderful colleague, cathy gutierrez, has just received copies of her second published book, entitled plato's ghost. I am honored that she chose one of my images to grace the cover...I have not seen it yet, but I look forward to reading the essays sometime this fall. you can buy it at amazon.com... congratulations to cathy!

six weeks on the road...

pam and I have just returned to virginia after driving to alaska with her aunt eva. we covered 13, 152 miles in the six weeks we were gone, and managed to take thousands of photographs. my favorite part of the drive was the 467 miles from fairbanks to prudoe bay, primarily on the dalton highway, also known as "the haul road". some of the surreal qualities of the landscape came through, but it would take years of dedication and hard work to really capture even a small part of this amazing place.

beginnings....

you have reached the site of paige critcher -
images and thoughts from a photographer
in virginia