AM: Where do you live and what do you do for a living?
CF: I live in Houston and have worked as a medical editor at the Texas Heart Institute for almost 40 years. I’m fortunate to work for Dr. Denton Cooley, the famous heart surgeon, and recently helped him prepare his memoir. I also edit papers for other leaders in the fields of cardiac transplantation and cardiac assist devices. However, my original training was in music, and my heart has always been in the arts.
AM: Where/when did you first develop your interest in photography?
CF: In 2001, I bought a small camcorder to document my mother’s 90th birthday. I soon became more interested in shooting still images than making movies with it. A year later, I took my first trip to Manhattan, so bought a Nikon Coolpix. One of my photos from that trip won a contest at the Texas Medical Center. On the strength of that photo, I was offered a one-person show. I decided I’d better buy an SLR and learn how to use it. The resulting exhibit—portraits of zoo animals—may still be on display somewhere in the medical center.
AM: Of all the art forms in the world, why photography?
CF: I’ve always wanted to paint but am not much good at it. With photos, you don’t have to spend hours adding lots of picture elements. Plus, digital photography isn’t messy like painting.
AM: What approach do you take to photography?
CF: I originally did travel and street photography, but I don’t have many chances to travel or spend time outside right now, so I mainly take indoor macro shots. Anything that comes into the house is a potential subject—especially paper, plastic, foil, or fabric items. Last week, I bought a feather wand for my cat’s birthday. I waved it in front of her once, then decided the feathers would go well with some of my other materials. I started photographing the toy, and the kitty still hasn’t gotten it back!
AM: How often do you photograph?
CF: When I’m at home and onto a new idea, I have a camera in my hands almost all the time. I love indoor photography because it can be done any hour of the day or night.
AM: Other than workshops, have you had any formal training in photography?
CF: I have just finished my third year of a mentorship with you, and it has been one of the great delights of my life.
AM: What is your favorite genre of photography?
CF: Abstract and experimental.
AM: What inspires you or where do you seek inspiration?
CF: I’m often inspired by sources that aren’t directly related to photography, such as 20th-Century painting and sculpture. I’m also inspired by limitations, which force me to come up with new ideas.
AM: Who do you most admire (past or present) and why or who’s art do you admire?
CF: Of living artists, Robert Irwin is probably the one I most admire because of his creativity, artistic courage, and humility. He is best known for pioneering the Perceptual Art movement in the 1960s. His works cross the boundaries of painting, sculpture, and architecture. I highly recommend his biography, Seeing is forgetting the name of the thing one sees, by Lawrence Weschler. It has very much influenced my photography.
AM: What is your greatest personal achievement?
CF: I’m extremely proud of the work I’ve done during the mentorship with you, especially my abstract series Available Light. At your suggestion, I took this series to the Meeting Place portfolio review at FotoFest 2012. It was my first big review. The results were extremely favorable, and I had several potential offers for further opportunities. Under your guidance, I’ve had a growing number of images accepted for exhibitions. In addition to teaching me how to improve my images, you’ve helped me learn to deal with printers and other fine-art professionals. A local photo group recently asked me to judge one of its upcoming contests, and the mentorship has given me the skills to do so.
AM: Name somewhere and/or someone you’d love to photograph?
CF: Here, now, and whoever or whatever shows up. Once, while sitting on the living-room couch, I challenged myself to find something within arm’s reach that I could successfully photograph. The closest items were a Mylar corn-chip bag and a plastic drinking glass. That experiment eventually gave rise to the series I took to FotoFest. The next step might be to find something interesting to photograph from the couch without even bothering to sit up! Am not sure how far I can take this experiment. I may have to break down and go somewhere—maybe Spain or Jerusalem.
AM: Do you have a favorite photography book?
CF: Right now, it’s The Edge of Vision: The Rise of Abstraction in Photography, by Lyle Rexer. I also like The Practice of Contemplative Photography by Andy Karr and Michael Wood.
AM: What do you collect?
CF: Musical instruments, religious art, and masks from many cultures.
AM: If you were to invite 1-5 personalities for a dinner conversation, who would they be?
CF: Robert Irwin, Louis (Satchmo) Armstrong, Virginia Woolf, Catherine the Great, and Father Justin, an old friend who is now the librarian at St. Catherine’s Monastery on Mount Sinai.
AM: Aside from photography, what is your favorite pastime?
CF: Music and photography are equally important to me. After getting my music degree, I put my flute down for 25 years. I had never felt drawn to jazz, but in 1997 I heard a CD of jazz pianist Oscar Peterson and was captivated by it. I got out my flute, signed up for an improv class, and was soon a featured soloist with a jazz band. I’m still with that band 15 years later.
AM: What camera and equipment do you use?
CF: My SLRs have all been Canons. I like the fact that Canon is named for Kannon (Kwan-Yin), the Buddhist goddess of mercy. For extreme close-up work, I use the 5D/Mark II with a 100-mm macro lens; an 85-mm prime lens with extension tubes; or a 24-mm prime lens on a reverse mount.
AM: What is/are your goals in photography?
CF: I want to make art–to photograph things as they’ve never been seen before. To have a gallery show and maybe do a photo book.