Michael Pry

medium: photography

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Charles 2003 Photography	Danny (front) 2003 Photography	Ken 2003 Photography
Yuko, Seiji and Maya 2003 Photography	Bob 2003 Photography	Danny 2003 Photography
John 2003 Photography	Suzanne and James 2003 Photography	Blue 2003 Photography
Carla and Cindy 2003 Photography

Contact information
Artist resides in: Salem, WI
Email Address: mpry@wi.rr.com
Web site: www.harleynation.us

Artist statement
I try not to get bogged down in the technical as that will strangle one's creativity. Every time! I really like a minimalist approach as I used one camera and one lens for this project (basically because that's all the large-format equipment I own). It really can free one up creatively, albeit a very scary thing at first, but the ensuing freedom that goes along with it is indescribable and the rewards many.

Going one step further, I chose to remain a participant in this project, as I often do when I photograph people. Being a participant rather than conductor only making small suggestions here and there allows me to yield myself completely to the project at hand and again, not getting bogged down with details. My only request was that nobody smile. Result: more freedom. I find that most times when I make images of people it's not really what I want, but rather what the image wants that makes it a worthwhile image.

Biography
I really don't have any photographic education except for the merit badge I earned in the Boy Scouts. I was taught the basics of photography from a most kind and giving gentleman. It was his selflessness that armed me with the basic tools I needed to set out on a lifelong adventure. I enjoy gathering and sifting through information at my own pace and then applying the principles that I feel are pertinent to my work. I studied first the great master painters and how they used light and composition, and then studied the great photographers and how they used light and composition. I saw many similarities. I once took an old doll of my daughter's and stood it up on our kitchen table for about a year. Every time I sat down I noted what the light was doing to it at the various times of day I viewed it...I made mental notes.