wizardwig's photostream  

Greetings-

I am a writer and photographer living in Seattle, Washington. I never set out to be either, but just sort of discovered slowly over time that I was. Looking back, I see now I have been this way for the majority of my life. Writing and shooting photography are an expanded diary of life, for me: a narrated and illustrated journal.

When I go somewhere, or I am somewhere, or I notice something, somehow or another what I see and feel freezes. The surroundings hum quietly with energy. I remember these moments in what I saw and felt. Earlier in life my mind would explode in a hurry to record the event. In a panic I had to save it and be able to keep it. I would write the experience down, or I would take a picture of it, or I would take a picture of it and write it down later. Many more moments exist in memory than I could ever write down or take photos of. Over time I learned how to breathe with the moment, exhaling one moment and inhaling the next, and exhaling again. I became more comfortable trusting my memory and letting those experiences go that I could not record. But when I can write or shoot, then what I’ve written or shot becomes a documentation. It helps support my experience in life and gives me a peaceful and quietly expressive way to interact with it along the way.

Some time ago I adopted the term ‘wizardwig’ to title & encompass my creative endeavors. If I drew, wrote, monologued or shot photos or video, in my world it all fell under the umbrella of WizardWig. I adopted it in part from the computing term ‘WYSIWYG,’ the concept which describes if or when both the unedited product and final product closely resemble one another. (More commonly WYSIWYG would refer to the phrase “What You See Is What You Get.”) I found this concept fitting for my reactions to the world around me: sensation drove the reaction, and the reaction became the record. What I wrote, the photo I took, or whatever I did, became the creation from that experience. Of course, it is difficult to rehearse or edit your reaction to any particular unexpected experience, and so I became fascinated with these spontaneous sparks of creativity and the resulting art which came from them.

American avant-garde writers in the 1950’s debated whether editing one’s work betrayed its creativity or not. Some would say the spontaneous and unedited creation is the prime creation, and the other side would say the refined and edited creation is the prime creation. For me, the former seemed more fitting since I enjoyed it more. But in reality, the issue of editing or not editing seems to be more of a philosophical question than an exclusive practice of one or the other.

So WYSIWYG became WizardWig, in the weirdly perfect sense that wizards are mysteriously powerful and creative, and wigs are inherently odd and funny. For me, at least. I have never been into wigs, particularly, but ‘wig’ sounds funny in speech, and is sort of strangely funny in concept as well. I figured the empowering creativity of a sorcerer and the comic aspects of wigs captured both the expression of my emotional experiences and also a humorous interest in the oddities around me. I never intended to develop a moniker, pseudonym or movement, it just sort of became what it is.

In my photography, until somewhat recently I had not experimented with any types of editing. My photos over time, in their imperfections, tell the story they are intended to tell. And I like them the way they are, imperfect yet familiar and deeply personal. I often shot entire film rolls with intentionally experimental camera settings, subjects and lighting. Other times I would choose a simple location, sit for a period of time, and observe & shoot random things which either came into view, or were sitting previously unnoticed in plain view. From this process I was rewarded with some true gems, unintentional keepers which to me were truly irreplaceable.

Historically my kit has been an Olympus OM 35mm film rig. I have also experimented widely with telescopes and microscopes rigged to mount cameras. In past years, like many, I have acquired a DSLR kit and am amazed with its capabilities and the possibilities it represents. And I have learned that Photoshop isn’t a dirty word. I still dig shooting film, though.

Today I will take photos of anything. To me all things have energy, and I feel better when I stop to take notice. The silent and inconsequential glance from a stranger, a pen laying next to an empty cup on the sidewalk, a bored child in the back seat of a passing car, a cat in the window of a house. One of my favorites is the experience and visual of wide and dramatic open space. I love to watch the sky.

So, enjoy the photos and mental meanderings I have posted here. I know your experience of them will likely differ from my experience of them, but that is an unpredictable and fun aspect of communing and posting. I love checking out others’ photos and comments, so send me your stuff and I’ll check it out. Also, my blog can be found at wizardwig.wordpress.com/

BTW, my avatar on Flickr is an old photo I took of an enormous & stylized mural depicting Dr. John McLoughin (nicknamed “The Father of Oregon”) which is painted on the side of a building in Oregon City. I took this photo when I lived there in the early 90’s. For a long time Oregon City had been considered the terminus of the Oregon Trail, and John McLoughlin was a prominent figure in the early government and business of Portland-area Oregon in the first half of the 1800’s. At 6′2″, his appearance was oddball & distinctive. The local Natives called him “The White Headed Eagle.” (Historical photo from the mid 1800’s also shown here.) For some reason I found the colorful mural of John McLoughlin to be a cool reflection of my home turf. And with his dark garb and long white hair, I suppose one could say his appearance is that of a quintessential Wizard Wig.

I have lived in Oregon (Eugene, Oregon City and Portland) and Washington (Seattle) my entire life, and I adore the Northwest. This is where I am part of the Earth.

Thanks and enjoy!

~Seattle, July 2009