Dan M Berkovitz
Artist Statement
My artistic passion and goal is to create fine art black and white photographic prints that will provide the viewer of the print with the same emotional response I had when viewing the scene in person. In black and white photography, without the distraction of color, the viewer’s attention can focus on the fundamental components of the image—light and dark tones, shapes, and composition. A black-and-white image directly conveys these basic elements of a scene to the viewer.
Alfred Stieglitz, widely considered the founder of modern photography, described a process he called “creative photography:” “I have the desire to photograph. I go out with my camera. I come across something that excites me emotionally, spiritually, and aesthetically. I see the photograph in my mind’s eye and I compose and expose the negative. I give you the print as the equivalent of what I saw and felt.” Ansel Adams followed a similar process he called “visualization.” I look for scenes that I find visually and emotionally appealing, either wide-open landscapes, close portraits, urban life, or rural countryside, and, through the device of a digital camera, work to capture and transmit that visual and emotional appeal.
