The Quarry Project is a selection from my twenty-year practice investigating the properties of black-and-white photography and how it creates abstraction from realism. Begun in 2016, these quarry photographs are a study in duality and tension. They comprise a deep exploration of the familiarity of place, the quarries near my home in Gloucester, Massachusetts, yet contain a longing to be transported to another world, a larger life, even infinity. They straddle a space between truth and fiction, between the exterior and interior, between fact and dream. Although rooted in landscape, the photographs are self-portraits, revealing a state of mind, more psychological and emotional than pragmatic. 

The sense of mystery and the desire for the unknown create an ongoing dichotomy – we think we are looking up, yet we are really looking down. We think we see the sky, but instead we see the water. What appears to be a mountain, is actually a rock. The bottomless black void is filled with reflection and imagination. 

In society right now — in the aftermath of the pandemic, with war, the dire effects of climate change, and an embattled political theater — meaning is breaking down and communication is challenging. We are left in a perpetual state of questioning. The Quarry Project embraces this confusion, allows for projection and the possibility that a negative space can be beautiful. 

Given the emotional and contemplative nature of my work, the physical print has become an integral part of my creative process. For the quarry work, I printed on washi paper. The tactile quality and deep tonal range of washi provides a compelling depth and texture to the images, inviting viewers to spend more time with them. I chose to float the quarry prints against a white board and within a white frame to emphasize the ephemeral nature of the quarry images. This quality is enhanced by the slight rippling effect of the framed organic washi prints, which is a natural response to the environment, adding to the “paper as object” intent.