BRAZOSbrazos

My personal mythology describes my birthplace as a cotton field in Central Texas. The truth is I played in the bottomlands of the Brazos River with children who are the descendants of Italian immigrants. Their ancestors were brought to Texas after the American Civil War (1861 - 1865) as cotton pickers. They recognized the fertility of land lying fallow between the Big Brazos and Little Brazos Rivers, an area prone to flooding. This lowland, known as Mudville, was considered too wet to cultivate. The immigrants purchased small parcels as they were able. This is the beginning of large cotton farms extant today. When I walk into the Brazos bottomlands to photograph, I feel the ancestors underfoot. memory charges my create energy; I am eager to express the mystery nature holds in her flat lands. My formal artistic concern centers on expressions of land, land, land, sky, sky, sky, horizon, horizon, horizon. Notes: all photos are stereo pinhole shot on medium format film. Long exposures are required usually 20-45 seconds. Framing and exposure are my best guess. Notably the first pinhole photograph was published a few years prior to Italian immigration of this area.