Since 1999, I have studied Realism through a lens. Realism is not a word used to describe photographs today. I took a documentary approach to this series to reflect our time.
I have always been an admirer of the artist, Edward Hopper. He was a master of light, balance, and composition. He created paintings that depicted his time. The 1930 painting, “Early Sunday Morning” had a soul-stirring effect on me.
How could I, as a photographer today, find a backdrop that replicated our society and mirrors Edward Hopper’s balance and composition?
I became a photographer trying to match one of the most iconic paintings in history.
For twenty years, I studied light, color, balance, and composition with a fire hydrant as the most important element in the series. Capturing human traces and documenting natural elements was of the utmost importance, but I knew Hopper’s paintings told a story.
At the beginning of 2019, I had a collection of over 180 photographs, but I was in search of something more.
On New Year’s Eve, 2019, I went photographing in Charleston, South Carolina. I chose a random alley to walk down. When I approached Church Street and Elliott Street, to my left was a cityscape that rivaled “Early Sunday Morning”. This storefront lit up my eyes and my hand went over my heart. I smiled and bowed my head in submission.
At that moment, I realized I would never match Edward Hopper’s painting. I took a deep breath, went down on one knee, and photographed a vertical.
After all these years, I realized I was just in search of my own, “Early Sunday Morning”.
