Cloth: Ghosts, Phantoms, and Still Lifes

My interest in photographing cloth grew out of my love for how painters have depicted it in so many ways, for such a long time. Interesting how this material that is usually not the main subject in a picture can suggest so many qualities of light shapes and meaning in a composition. After all, what is a Cezanne apple without the table cloth beneath it?

Ghosts

Ghosts are simultaneously solid and empty. In my pictures I chose to create them in conventional shapes and at the same time I wanted to render the cloth itself in a gorgeously detailed way, with substance. I like the visual dichotomy of showing a rich material covering something that’s non-being underneath.

Phantoms

I made this series of images by tossing a piece of white cloth in the air using a flash to stop the motion. I shot hundreds of them! In the end I chose sixteen images that I call phantoms. This approach allowed me to conjure shapes produced in random ways so that my own desire to design was not so much in play. Of course, the final images I chose unavoidable reflect what my unconscious liked or feared.