My drive to create was seriously challenged in 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic engulfed the earth. I was staying in a house in Colorado that had a limited supply of water and a fragile septic system. It was impossible to use darkroom chemistry there. So I began a series of Lumen Prints there which I call “What Remains.” A lumen print is made by placing objects on unexposed photographic paper, putting it in full sun and allowing an image to form. It usually takes hours in direct sunlight.

I picked beautiful but invasive Thistle plants and put them on expired photographic paper in the bright sunlight. After hours of exposure an image appears.  After they dry I store them in light proof envelopes until I can get back to a darkroom with water and sewer for processing. I scan them before and after processing. Then I combine the scans and manipulate them in Photoshop to produce my “What Remains” series of archival inkjet prints.  I also created prints on Cape Cod using seaweed scavenged from the beach.

The photograms of What Remains are flora and fauna that might survive the Anthropocene Era.

A selection of the What Remains images are on my website.