I'm a documentary filmmaker by trade and when I started making films back in the Pleistocene Era (the 70's), it wasn’t even vaguely cool…it was just a bit eccentric.  It certainly wasn't a way to make a living.   Calvin Trillin once described documentary filmmakers as ‘the smartest poor people you’ll ever meet’.  I like that.  The smart part, that is. 

 

I've made dozens of documentaries and when I’m asked to describe what kind of films I make, I usually say something like:  "They’re about American culture, they hold a mirror up to American society, they’re ‘character-driven' and they’re accessible, funny," etc.  What they are, are serious looks at important subjects, but I’ve tried not to take my work so deadly seriously that I can’t pull one out every once in a while and not feel the need to set my eyes on fire.   But looking at what holds my 40 years of filmmaking together thematically can be a bit tricky.  I’ve been interested in lots of things—a generalist in the era of the specialist.  Perhaps it's best to look at my oeuvre as a series of longstanding preoccupations; musings about culture, politics, class, etc. that fall under the three-dollar umbrella of THE HUMAN COMEDY.   I'm sort of a social anthropologist without a degree.

 

Trying to connect the dots over decades of still image making can be similarly difficult.  On the other hand, there ought to be some tissue of truth or lies which holds these still life’s together...  Is it humor? Juxtaposition? A sugar imbalance?   

 

Dylan Thomas probably had it right when he once said in refusing to elaborate on the meaning of some of his poems:   "Let them stand on their own two feet...the little lyrical cripples."  But themes are important – at least they help us understand a bit better what this (cough) journey is all about.  So I have loosely grouped the images and jotted down some musings and rambling annotations where they may or may not be necessary.

 

So I hope you enjoy the visit. They’re will be more as the spirit so moves; so check back when you feel the urge.

 

By clicking on THE KITCHEN SINK, you can see the images in larger, more glorified detail.  And yes, prints (remember them?) are available for a modest price.

 

If you are of a mind to, you can go to  www.cnam.com and see lots of excerpts from my films.