Spying on a Memory

Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again. You cannot develop and print a memory.

Henri Cartier-Bresson

The great HCB was right! Photography demands that I be there, point the camera in the right direction, release the shutter at the right time.

But when I am there, I do point the camera in the right direction, I do release the shutter at the right time — then I create a window into the past in a way that no other visual medium can match. Then I can develop and print a memory, or at least glimpse it — spy on it.

For the first time I am mounting a show (it hangs on Tuesday) that introduces you to several on my ongoing projects and some of my memories.

I hope they are your memories too.

The museum is sort of a baby MOHAI (for the non-Seattle folks: Museum of History and Industry) -- emphasizing community history and artifacts -- but they have a space that is devoted to a single artist from the Highline area. It's an unusual space, a large glass-enclosed display case, that makes the design of an installation a lot of fun. It isn't exactly San Francisco MOMA but it's a plenty nice enough venue that I'm pleased to be there.