KITCHEN THINGS  This series started innocently enough. (It’s working title, incidentally, was The Things They Used.) First of all, I was interested in the form of the objects. I thought that by isolating the utensils from their normal environment, and either enlarging or miniaturizing their images, I could show the beauty of the forms themselves. In addition to honoring these humble objects, I thought their strong graphic presence would make interesting decorator items in a kitchen or elsewhere. Sizes of the original prints can range from approximately 2 1/2" square to 24" square.

The series also seemed to relate to my other work. I often photograph places devoid of people in order to capture something of the spirit of those who normally inhabit those spaces – to reveal the nature of the people who live there by showing what I’ve referred to elsewhere as the “stage settings of our lives.” It seemed a logical progression to focus on singular objects from those environments. If the images were successful, something of the spirit of those who had used the utensils might come through.

But then an odd thing happened. The objects, in addition to revealing something of themselves and the people who used them, often revealed something totally other. They became metaphors with connotations in wholly different realms. A vegetable peeler took on aspects of a prehistoric fertility fetish. A slotted spoon became a stylized tree. A garlic press swam along like a made-up sea monster in an octopus’s garden. What was going on here?

Such aspects of the images are fun, but they’re not the whole story. A work becomes a work of art depending on the layers of interpretation it can encompass. Perhaps one way to approach these new objects – sheets of watercolor paper, each bearing a carbon-pigment image of an old kitchen utensil – is to ask their help in revealing themselves.

A number of these images have been or will be featured in TABLE Magazine, each with a brief essay on the utensil's history and function. More information about TABLE can be found at www.tablemagazine.com.

KITCHEN THINGS  This series started straightforwardly enough. (It’s working title, incidentally, was The Things They Used.) First of all, I was interested in the form of the objects. I thought that by isolating the utensils from their normal environment, and either enlarging or miniaturizing their images, I could show the beauty of the forms themselves. In addition to honoring these humble objects, I thought their strong graphic presence would make interesting decorator items in a kitchen or elsewhere. Sizes of the original prints can range from approximately 2 1/2" square to 24" square.

The series also seemed to relate to my other work. I often photograph places devoid of people in order to capture something of the spirit of those who normally inhabit those spaces – to reveal the nature of the people who live there by showing what I’ve referred to elsewhere as the “stage settings of our lives.” It seemed a logical progression to focus on singular objects from those environments. If the images were successful, something of the spirit of those who had used the utensils might come through.

But then an odd thing happened. The objects, in addition to revealing something of themselves and the people who used them, often revealed something totally other. They became metaphors with connotations in wholly different realms. A vegetable peeler took on aspects of a prehistoric fertility fetish. A slotted spoon became a stylized tree. A garlic press swam along like a made-up sea monster in an octopus’s garden. What was going on here?

Such aspects of the images are fun, but they’re not the whole story. A work becomes a work of art depending on the layers of interpretation it can encompass. Perhaps one way to approach these new objects – sheets of watercolor paper, each bearing a carbon-pigment image of an old kitchen utensil – is to ask their help in revealing themselves.

A number of these images have been or will be featured in TABLE Magazine, each with a brief essay on the utensil's history and function. More information about TABLE can be found at www.tablemagazine.com.