“To make people free is the aim of art, therefore art for me is the science of freedom…I wish to go more and more outside to be among the problems of nature and problems of human beings in their working places.” ~Joseph Beuys.

I was digging around for some old photographs, and came across an online album of photos and commentary I did after a 3-week trip up the West Coast in 2000. All organized by location, indexed, with bibliography and template design. First, I can’t believe how much effort I put into it. Second, I remember that this was the time I began shooting photographs again, after a number of years’ hiatus following the theft of my camera. I recall I saw a $10 point-and-shoot at a supermarket, quite incidentally, and threw it in my basket, thinking it might be good for a few shots.

Ok, not that I’m an acclaimed professional photographer now, remembering where I started out; but it was the first time I used the camera as a way to very deliberately examine places, and record them as for a visual record (as opposed to, as an artistic interpretation).  This is almost entirely what I’ve done  with photography ever since, probably at the expense of its artistry.

Below are a few samples.  Click on photos to go to corresponding album page.