— Journal

Burning with desire.

Essays, history, and field notes on the medium of photography.

Field note · Oct 2024

Hunter's Home — Jennie Ross Cobb

Returning to Tahlequah with a Seroco (1904) and hand-coated dry plates — a small reckoning with the first woman photographer of the Cherokee Nation.

— Journal

f/64 – Revolution in Focus

Edward Weston - F64 revolution photographer seeking detail above pictorial illusion.

The Elevation of Color (1976)

The search for color in fine art photography found early forms in dye sublimation prints made from Cibachrome - like "Sam's" by Patty Carroll from her 1980's series on Chicago Hot Dog stands.

Photoshop – Now What? (1990)

Giving images impact, outside the camera, has a long history in photography and publication of photographs. By 1991 and the release of Photoshop version 1.0, airbrush, oil paint, litho films, and other retouching tools were crushed by computer rendering and digital manipulation. Above actor Humphrey Bogart has his hand-bearing cigarette removed for a film still advertising the 1949 Columbia picture "Knock on Any Door".

Hunter’s Home – Jennie Ross Cobb

Hunter’s Home, Tahlequah OK - Seroco Camera (1904) using historically correct hand-coated, dry plate film on glass, and original film holders.

Cinematic Staging (1980)

While composite imagery had been practiced before 1900, and the darkroom mastery of Jerry Uelsman stood almost without equal in the 1970s, influencing the decade of the 1980s was the staged and composited photographs of an Canadian artist named Jeff Wall and Buffalo NY photographer Cindy Sherman. Ten years later the arrival of Photoshop version number 1 would begin the crush of analogue methods into chemical vapor. Yet for the period of the late 1970s early 1980s, Jeff Wall and Cindy Sherman's cinematically derived compositions would be the new contemporary discourse.

White Rock Spiral

Medium
Archival Pigment Print on Red River premium photo paper – matted to 16x20 inches
Edition
Edition of 15
Price
$820

White Rock Mountain Recreational Area offers one of the most stunning panoramas in the Natural State of Arkansas. It was a perfect place for in camera light painting at dusk one evening in 2015.

Trail Trees - Hobbs State Park (4 of 4)

Medium
Archival Pigment Print on Red River premium photo paper – matted to 11x14 inches
Edition
Edition of 10
Price
$540

“In 2017 I worked closely with the largest state park in Arkansas and with several of its Interpreters. Al Knox had made an inventory of Trail Trees, sometimes called Mystery Trees. Of several understandings, these bound and disfigured trees grow in the direction to a source of water, and Interpreter Knox used his water dowsing skills to prove their significance.

To date, I’m the only photographer to ever make a systematic study of Trail Trees at Hobbs State Park.”

Trail Trees - Hobbs State Park (3 of 4)

Medium
Archival Pigment Print on Red River premium photo paper – matted to 11x14 inches
Edition
Edition of 10
Price
$540

In 2017 I worked closely with the largest state park in Arkansas and with several of its Interpreters. Al Knox had made an inventory of Trail Trees, sometimes called Mystery Trees. Of several understandings, these bound and disfigured trees grow in the direction to a source of water, and Interpreter Knox used his water dowsing skills to prove their significance.

To date, I’m the only photographer to ever make a systematic study of Trail Trees at Hobbs State Park.

Trail Trees - Hobbs State Park (2 of 4)

Medium
Archival Pigment Print on Red River premium photo paper – matted to 11x14 inches
Edition
Edition of 10
Price
$540

In 2017 I worked closely with the largest state park in Arkansas and with several of its Interpreters. Al Knox had made an inventory of Trail Trees, sometimes called Mystery Trees. Of several understandings, these bound and disfigured trees grow in the direction to a source of water, and Interpreter Knox used his water dowsing skills to prove their significance.

To date, I’m the only photographer to ever make a systematic study of Trail Trees at Hobbs State Park.

Trail Trees - Hobbs State Park (1 of 4)

Medium
Archival Pigment Print on Red River premium photo paper – matted to 11x14 inches
Edition
Edition of 10
Price
$540

In 2017 I worked closely with the largest state park in Arkansas and with several of its Interpreters. Al Knox had made an inventory of Trail Trees, sometimes called Mystery Trees. Of several understandings, these bound and disfigured trees grow in the direction to a source of water, and Interpreter Knox used his water dowsing skills to prove their significance.

To date, I’m the only photographer to ever make a systematic study of Trail Trees at Hobbs State Park.

Mother Road - Stratford, Texas

Medium
Archival Pigment Print on Red River premium photo paper – matted to 11x14 inches
Edition
Edition of 10
Price
$540

“Travelling Route 66 before Interstates provides me a unique perspective to the Mother Road. I’ve crisscrossed the country on its pavement, stopped at most of its attractions, and lived on the road for several years in downtown Albuquerque near the Kimo Theater. Later, in 2015, Greg Disch and I journeyed with intention to the most colorful and iconic locations. It was fun staying at the Blue Swallow Motel.

A year later, in 2016, I celebrated these images in a solo show in Fayetteville, and in 2021 an image from this series was awarded Best of Show during the Fort Smith Regional Art Museum’s Invitational call for art.”

Mother Road - Blue Swallow - Tucumcari, New Mexico

Medium
Archival Pigment Print on Red River premium photo paper – matted to 16x20 inches
Edition
Edition of 15
Price
$820

“Travelling Route 66 before Interstates provides me a unique perspective to the Mother Road. I’ve crisscrossed the country on its pavement, stopped at most of its attractions, and lived on the road for several years in downtown Albuquerque near the Kimo Theater. Later, in 2015, Greg Disch and I journeyed with intention to the most colorful and iconic locations. It was fun staying at the Blue Swallow Motel.

A year later, in 2016, I celebrated these images in a solo show in Fayetteville, and in 2021 an image from this series was awarded Best of Show during the Fort Smith Regional Art Museum’s Invitational call for art.”

Mother Road - Bug Ranch

Medium
Archival Pigment Print on Red River premium photo paper – matted to 11x14 inches
Edition
Edition of 10
Price
$540

“Travelling Route 66 before Interstates provides me a unique perspective to the Mother Road. I’ve crisscrossed the country on its pavement, stopped at most of its attractions, and lived on the road for several years in downtown Albuquerque near the Kimo Theater. Later, in 2015, Greg Disch and I journeyed with intention to the most colorful and iconic locations. The Slug Bug Ranch outside of Amarillo is a favorite for me, here rendered like a vintage postcard.

A year later, in 2016, I celebrated these images in a solo show in Fayetteville, and in 2021 an image from this series was awarded Best of Show during the Fort Smith Regional Art Museum’s Invitational call for art.”

Espanola - New Mexico

Medium
Archival Pigment Print on Red River premium photo paper – matted to 11x14 inches
Edition
Edition of 10
Price
$540

In 2015, I traveled through northern and southwestern New Mexico with photographer Cleo Wright and poet Keli Wright. Cleo and I later exhibited our images at the John Blatz Gallery on Bentonville Square, alongside Keli’s poems inspired by our journey. My work was also featured in a juried alumni exhibit at Northwest Arkansas Community College.

Espanola, New Mexico has always been an authentic Southwestern community for me, which this image illustrates a brief moment of.

Chimayo - New Mexico

Medium
Archival Pigment Print on Red River premium photo paper – matted to 11x14 inches
Edition
Edition of 10
Price
$540

In 2015, I traveled through northern and southwestern New Mexico with photographer Cleo Wright and poet Keli Wright. Cleo and I later exhibited our images at the John Blatz Gallery on Bentonville Square, alongside Keli’s poems inspired by our journey. My work was also featured in a juried alumni exhibit at Northwest Arkansas Community College.

Santuario de Chimayo is one of the most important Catholic pilgrimage sites in the United States.

Bisti - New Mexico - Sunset

Medium
Archival Pigment Print on Red River premium photo paper – matted to 11x14 inches
Edition
Edition of 10
Price
$540

In 2015, I traveled through northern and southwestern New Mexico with photographer Cleo Wright and poet Keli Wright. Cleo and I later exhibited our images at the John Blatz Gallery on Bentonville Square, alongside Keli’s poems inspired by our journey. My work was also featured in a juried alumni exhibit at Northwest Arkansas Community College.

Santuario de Chimayo is one of the most important Catholic pilgrimage sites in the United States.

Bisti - New Mexico - Cliffs

Medium
Archival Pigment Print on Red River premium photo paper – matted to 11x14 inches
Edition
Edition of 10
Price
$540

In 2015, I traveled through northern and southwestern New Mexico with photographer Cleo Wright and poet Keli Wright. Cleo and I later exhibited our images at the John Blatz Gallery on Bentonville Square, alongside Keli’s poems inspired by our journey. My work was also featured in a juried alumni exhibit at Northwest Arkansas Community College.

We hiked into the De-Na-Zin Wilderness (Bisti) during two days and one long night, capturing the lunar landscape of this federal reserve within Navajo Nation.

Bandelier - New Mexico - Black Hands

Medium
Archival Pigment Print on Red River premium photo paper – matted to 16x20 inches
Edition
Edition of 15
Price
$820

In 2015, I traveled through northern and southwestern New Mexico with photographer Cleo Wright and poet Keli Wright. Cleo and I later exhibited our images at the John Blatz Gallery on Bentonville Square, alongside Keli’s poems inspired by our journey. My work was also featured in a juried alumni exhibit at Northwest Arkansas Community College.

Black Hands was captured inside a kiva, accessible only by a wooden ladder.

Sunflowers

Medium
Archival Pigment Print on Red River premium photo paper – matted to 11x14 inches
Edition
Edition of 10
Price
$540

For several years I shared a studio on Emma Street in Springdale, Arkansas where annually we would setup for a Flowers in the Studio event. These images are my favorites from this period.

Chrysanthemum – Color

Medium
Archival Pigment Print on Red River premium photo paper – matted to 11x14 inches
Edition
Edition of 10
Price
$540

For several years I shared a studio on Emma Street in Springdale, Arkansas where annually we would setup for a Flowers in the Studio event. These images are my favorites from this period.

Chrysanthemum – B&W

Medium
Archival Pigment Print on Red River premium photo paper – matted to 11x14 inches
Edition
Edition of 10
Price
$540

For several years I shared a studio on Emma Street in Springdale, Arkansas where annually we would setup for a Flowers in the Studio event. These images are my favorites from this period.

Eureka Springs - Store Front

Medium
Archival Pigment Print on Red River premium photo paper – matted to 16x20 inches
Edition
Edition of 15
Price
$820

Eureka Springs, Arkansas is a favorite destination of mine due to its diverse community and rich history of natural springs. In 2026, I was in there in residency at Dairy Hollow Artist Colony for ten days.

Eureka Springs - Gable

Medium
Archival Pigment Print on Red River premium photo paper – matted to 16x20 inches
Edition
Edition of 15
Price
$820

Eureka Springs, Arkansas is a favorite destination of mine due to its diverse community and rich history of natural springs. In 2026, I was in there in residency at Dairy Hollow Artist Colony for ten days.

Eureka Springs - Ford

Medium
Archival Pigment Print on Red River premium photo paper – matted to 16x20 inches
Edition
Edition of 15
Price
$820

Eureka Springs, Arkansas is a favorite destination of mine due to its diverse community and rich history of natural springs. In 2026, I was in there in residency at Dairy Hollow Artist Colony for ten days.