I have been doing pop-up shows and group gallery exhibits of my ICM work for several years now and find that the same questions keep popping up. So, I thought I'd take a few minutes this morning to cover some questions you may have about my form of art.

Question: I've never seen this art form before. Did you create it?

Answer: Intentional Camera Movement has been around with examples dating back to the 1950's. The art form became popular with the advent of the digital camera which greatly reduced the cost associated with it. However, everybody doing ICM photography on a routine basis made their images from outdoors scenes. I took ICM into the studio, and through several years of experimentation and observation, identified and categorized the methods and materials that optimally adapted ICM to the studio. So, although i did not invention ICM, I am responsible for bringing it into a studio environment.

Question: Do you use AI in the generation of your work?

Answer: No. But in discussing this with many visitors, I have found that a lot of people do not understand the relationship between AI and photography. AI is something that makes up images based on what a computer is asked to put into an image. In my work, I use Adobe Photoshop to refine my final images in terms of overall brigntness, contrast, sharpness, and things like that. These are things that photographers have been doing for many years. But as far as inserting elements into my images in post-processing - no.

Question: Where did you study art?

Answer: I took several art classes in college, but it was not my major. I also took several photography classes when I lived in Connecticut. My children are all artists, and a lot of what I learned about photography came from them. I do not make a lot distinctions between the arts and sciences anymore, and believe that anyone with an open mind can understand how one enables proficiency in the other. Read my Feb 2025 blog on Art and Science.

Question: Can I come visit your studio?

Answer: You can, but I think you would be disappointed. My studio is nothing more than a Home Depot black plastic storage bin with a variety of LED light inside it and a drawer full of plastic bags, tissue paper, and assorted odds and ends.

Question: Can I come to your studio and be taught how this is done?

Answer: No, I do not participate in live 1:1 instruction. Occasionally I will teach a class for camera clubs and other art groups, but it is not something I want to do to generate income. I have seen a number of good artists get caught in the trap of doing instruction and field trip programs to teach others, and all of the sudden, that becomes their business, and they no longer have time to create and explore their own art. Go to the about page on my website and you can view the many teaching videos I have created - free of charge.

Question: Where do you see yourself going next with your art?

Answer: I really don't know. One of the things I have learned through my ICM studies so far is that every day something different comes up that I can attempt to incorporate into my work. If it is small and reacts well to lighting, it goes into my studio for experimentation. I would like to get back into making intaglio prints, but keep getting drawn back into studio ICM.

Question: How did you come up with the idea to do what you are doing with studio ICM?

Answer: It was a pure accident. One day while coming home from a shoot, I did an off-hand ICM photo of a bunch of plastic-coated wires on my work bench. Luckily it turned out to be a very compelling abstract. I tried for weeks to replicate that image with no success, and from that decided that if I was going to figure out how the image was made that it was going to require a lot of study, experiments with different materials and lighting as well as documentation. I approached the problem as a scientist would, and as a result, created a body of techniques, processes, and equipment suited for my type of art.