Weak Artists Borrow
Great Artists Steal

When I am faced with a dead-end on a project or simply have trouble getting out of my own way, I retreat to my library of photography books. Simply grabbing a book at random and looking through the images presented there is often enough to get me out of a funk. When I have a specific project in mind, I go to the books and try to find someone who has done work similar to what I am proposing or something the complete opposite.

On a recent project for the Portland Museum of Art in Portland Maine, I did just that. Before beginning to work I went and spent several hours with the work of a variety of different photographers.


The Portland Museum of Art was restoring the McCellan House, an 1801 mansion, to as close to original condition as possible. They invited seven photographers to create work during the reconstruction phase. We could do anything we wanted to do. One photographer re-created fairy tales, another photographed with a plastic camera. There were all sorts of creative and inventive work done. Each artist worked several times during a particular month. Two months later each photographer had a show in a small gallery in the museum. It was an outreach program by the museum to keep the public up to date with the reconstruction process and to keep the McCellan House in people minds.

Prior to beginning my project, I spent some time with two of my favorite architectural photographers, Eugene Atget and Fredrick Evans. The work of these photographers both inspires and depresses me. It is simply great work. Each time I spend time with either body of work I see something new and different. Familiarity breeds appreciation. It depresses me because I wonder how can I ever make one single image as strong as any of theirs.

During my allotted time I worked with my 8x10 and 12x20. The house was full of windows, floor to ceiling windows. Great light. It was a terrific space to work in. Working around the construction crew was fun and challenging. It was a great opportunity to do the work I love to do. On the way out one evening I found the photograph below. Yes Fredrick Evans, your “Sea of Steps” inspired it.

If you are going to steal, steal only from the best.