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Why is it that the only people with "names" are the white women?

In this exhibition, my photos of people can be divided into two types: candids and portraits. Most are candids, meaning I took the pictures spontaneously in some public place. I don't know the people, so I cannot give their names. In this show, there are candids of men and women, white and non-white. The other photos are portraits, meaning someone planned in advance to pose for my camera. Because I am acquainted with these people, I am able to give their names.

What kind of camera do you use?

All of the photos in this exhibit were taken with a Canon PowerShot Pro 1, which is the first quality camera I've owned. After using it every day for 927 days, it began to break down in December 2006. There are three photos in this show that were taken after my camera began to have problems, which is an accomplishment considering the limitations it placed on my ability to take pictures. At about the time this exhibition opened I purchased a new Canon Digital Rebel XTi, which once again gives me a great deal of photographic power. I am going to try to get my PowerShot repaired because it can do certain things that the Rebel cannot.

When and where was the firefighter photo taken?

This photo was taken March 20, 2006, at the Marianist Environmental Education Center, a 100-acre nature preserve operated by the University of Dayton. On an annual basis, part of the prairie there is deliberately set on fire in a controlled burn. Last spring, I was invited to document the event with my camera. It was the first time I was actually afraid while taking pictures, because the flames were very high and they moved fast. But the staff and volunteers did a great job of keeping the fire limited to a specific area (plus we were told if the fire came too close we could always jump into the pond). There were people with flamethrowers to start the fire and others with water hoses to contain it. I followed someone with a flamethrower, but then noticed this other person across the burning prairie. The distortion in the image is caused by the heat rising off of the flames.

Why do you include dates in the titles of your photos?

Only after people started to ask that question did I begin to think about it, so there was no predetermined plan. But in hindsight, I suppose I do it for two reasons. First is to show the currency of the images, which were all taken during the past year. My photography is driven by the new, so in an exhibition like this I would never even consider displaying a photo that wasn't recent. Second I want viewers to know what time of year the pictures were taken -- especially the outdoor photos. It's interesting to see how the red buds of April in Woodland Cemetery (left) match the red leaves of October in Smith Garden (right).