Photographer’s Statement

When I first viewed images made with IR film some 15 years or so ago I was not impressed and viewed them at klugey. When I met my now partner and love of my life I did a 180 degree turnaround. She was doing hand painted photography at the time using IR film as the initial imaging capture medium and the high contrast printing she used worked very well to print the images which she then painted. I began to shoot the Konica near-IR film and then moved onto Kodak HIE because I wanted more of the ethereal look that HIE presented.

Working in infrared b/w photography contrasted to the other bw work I was doing in the editorial and stock photography areas. Infrared photography gave me the artistic outlet and method I was looking for that was not present with other films. Now, I combine IR b/w, some color, and converted b/w imagery to my art photography displayed at the outdoor art shows we participate in. The subject matter is different for all three mediums and allow me to diversify my exhibiting portfolio.

All of these images were taken with an Olympus Wide-E 35mm Rangefinder using Kodak HIE and shot through an 87C IR filter to capture the most IR effect from the scene. I find a rangefinder camera to be ideal for capturing infrared photographs because there’s no need to view the scene through a SLR viewfinder. Experience working in this way taught me which exposure, as read on the primitive meter, was appropriate and bracketing in 3-5 exposures gave me what I had mentally previsualized.