About
Escalators. Barcelona, 2017
My View
Most of us move through our daily lives merely “looking”, that is, using our eyes simply for the practical task of completing our daily routines without too much drama. We rarely really take the time to SEE the many miracles and hidden universes that are constantly presented to us. In this sense, photography has been a gift of “sight” in that it has helped me to slow down and to engage my senses on a much deeper level than ever before. As Burke Uzzle said, “Photography is a love affair with life.”
And so it is with me.
Living between Barcelona, Spain and Boulder, Colorado has led me to make pictures of two apparently very contrary subjects: wild scapes (nature) and human scapes (urban scenes, buildings, street, the human condition). I imply they are different subjects, but the two are in fact inextricably linked in many ways, some positive, some negative. We are part of, and inseparable from, Nature. This relationship between the natural world and the human world is often reflected in my work (see my Colorado Front Range – A Neo-Topographical Essay, for example).
Relatedly, I have also found it interesting to explore what happens in our often-overwhelming and complex human world when we ignore the purifying and regenerative power of Nature to heal–humans disconnected from our Natural roots. Here, I am thinking of my Ghost Women and Orwellian New York portfolios.
Finally, some of my most satisfying artistic images (as opposed to my more documentary projects) are abstract, that is, they present an unusual perspective that will hopefully challenge the viewer with various layers of meaning and thus multiple possible interpretations.
I photograph both in color and in monochrome, although I am very partial to the latter as black and white images–without the distraction of color–often tend to help me focus on what I consider the essential compositional elements and, therefore, the ultimate message and mood behind the image.
As for tools, I have used everything from Brownie and Diana film cameras, to high megapixel DSLRs. Whether from film or digital files, I process my images with computer software, usually Adobe Photoshop or Elements along with various plugins (notably, DxO/Nik Collection Silver Efex Pro for monochrome).
See the Portfolios tab for my latest work, and thank you for taking the time to visit!
My Story
Bathroom Self-Portrait. Barcelona, 2014
My first exploration into the world of photography occurred in the late 60s or early 70s as a curious, snotty-faced pre-teen with unkempt hair and too-short trousers as I tried to tape a Brownie box camera to the eyepiece of my Sears telescope to get pictures of the Moon. Blurry, white blobs were the result, but it was all very exciting nonetheless.
Later, throughout my younger years, I nearly always had a camera with me as I and my friends explored the myriad mysteries of the magical big-sky American Southwest—we hiked and ran the trails, challenged ourselves with cross-state long-distance treks, climbed the cliffs and mountains, explored the slot canyons, skied when the winter snows arrived and even spiraled up over the Painted Desert in our hang gliders, lifted by booming thermals to cloud base.
We were young, fearless, immortal and our hearts were an open book…. to paraphrase a song of old.
Along the way, I did learn a bit about basic photographic composition, f-stops and depth-of-field control, but I really never advanced beyond that. For me, at that time, the camera was mainly useful for recording our adventures and experiences. Even during my five years as a public high school history teacher, my 21-year career as an Air Force officer and pilot, and the few years that I managed the family horse ranch, the camera only came to the fore on fleeting occasions. I stayed largely by the sidelines as the digital revolution swept by.
It wasn’t until 2009 (and not quite so young and fearless anymore!), when my wife and I spent a year in her home city of Barcelona did I finally become “born again” in the visual and photographic sense. With a hand-me-down 6-megapixel Nikon D70 DSLR, a gift from my photographer brothers, and the stimulus of a dynamic European city awaiting my shutter finger, I found myself “seeing” again and my passion for photography was reignited. I find it an excellent meditative exercise, an excuse to keenly observe places, things, and people, and, ultimately, a way to immerse myself deeply into this strange life as we know it on this planet.
Over the Continental Divide at Flight Level 350. Colorado, 2014
Awards, Presentations, and Juried Shows
2011
St. Stephens Juried Art Show, Longmont, CO; Judge: Murth Murthy; 1st place in traditional photography with “Faith and 83 Years”.
Louisville Art Association National Juried Photography Show, Louisville, CO; Judge: Russ Burden; three images selected with one image, “Faith and 83 Years”, placing 3rd in the B&W category. Over 500 images were submitted to this show with 92 selected for participation.
2012
Louisville Art Association National Juried Photography Show, Louisville, CO; Judge: Glenn Randall; one image selected, “Flatirons Sunrise Sky”, which earned 3rd place in the B&W Architecture and Landscape category. 694 images from 150 different photographers were submitted for this show with about 100 images from 48 photographers selected for participation.
2013
Boulder County Open Space “Land Through the Lens” Juried Photography Show at Boulder, Colorado’s Dairy Center for the Arts; Two images selected: “Late Autumn on the Farm” and “Sunrise Over Boulder County”. Out of 350+ images submitted, 109 images from 57 photographers were selected for participation in this exhibit.
Two images selected for the St. Stephens Juried Art Show, Longmont Colorado: “Fractured” and “The Preacher”. Judge: Marie Bush.
Louisville Art Association National Juried Photography Show, Louisville, CO; Judge: Dan Ballard; one image selected, “Brainard Lake Reflection #7”.
2014
Louisville Art Association National Juried Photography Show, Louisville, CO; Judge: Joseph Roybal; one image selected, “Fifty Years Later”.
One of six photographers to show and discuss their street photography at the Lyons Cinema and Photography Art Center in Lyons (Kenneth Wajda, owner/curator), Colorado (April 19, 2014).
One of the four photographers from the Photography for a Change (link no longer active) program selected to exhibit prints of their work at the National Center for Atmosheric Research (NCAR) gallery in Boulder, Colorado; December, 2014 through January, 2015.
2015
Two displays (11 photographs total) at Coal Creek Physical Therapy, Louisville, Colorado and at North Boulder Physical Therapy, Boulder, Colorado. April 1 through June 30, 2015.
Louisville Art Association National Juried Photography Show, Louisville, CO, May 31 – June 7, 2015; 863 images submitted with 100 accepted; Judge: Eli Vega; four images invited: “Distant Contrail”, “Elephant Buttresses, Winter”, “Royal Arch Disorientation”, “Sunrise, Sawhill Ponds” (all monochrome).
The Darkroom Photography Gallery, Longmont Colorado, “The Interpretive Landscape” Show, June 12 – July 25, 2015; Judges: Wesley Jessup (Director of the Longmont Museum) and Matthew Jonas (Photo Editor, Longmont Times-Call; Three images selected: “Altar to the Gods”, “Full Gospel Preacher”, “Sunrise, Sawhill Ponds” (Honorable Mention Award).
Boulder County Open Space “Land Through the Lens” Juried Photography Show at The Great Frame Up Gallery in Longmont, Colorado; August 14 – September 3, 2015; Two images selected: “Sun, Cloud, and Contrail” and “Sunrise, Sugarloaf Mountain”, the latter earning the Commissioners Choice Award thus selected to be purchased and displayed at Boulder County offices.
Nine local landscape works exhibited in a four-photographer show at The Darkroom Photography Gallery, Longmont Colorado; August 14 – September 15, 2015. The other photographers in the show: Karen Adler, Brian Killigrew, and Debbie Adams.
2016
Image (“Approaching Inferno”, 2014) selected for display at the Fort Collins (Colorado) Center for Fine Art Photography. show Landscapes, May 6 through June 10, 2016. Juror: Natasha Egan, Executive Director, Columbia College Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL.
The Darkroom Photography Gallery, Longmont Colorado, “Architecture-Structure-Form” Show, June 10 – July 31, 2016; Juror: Kate Zari Roberts; One image selected: “The Great Escape” (Honorable Mention Award).
One of six artists selected out of 75 applicants as a Boulder County 2016 Artist-in-Residence, Caribou Ranch Open Space, August 24 – September 3.
Four images selected for display in The Darkroom Photography Gallery’s juried show, Winter Light, Longmont, Colorado, December 9-31, 2016. Jurors: Wesley Jessup, Executive Director, Longmont Museum and Cultural Center, Kevin Holliday, Owner, Kevin Holliday Photography and internationally recognized/ awarded fine-art photographer, and Julie Cardinal, Executive Director/Curator of The DARKROOM, Longmont, Colorado.
2017
Three images juried in to the Humanity show at Bin 46 in Longmont, Colorado: “Marvelous Matrimony”, “Faith and 83 Years”, and “395 Years”. Show dates June 9 through July 29, 2017. Jurors: Julie Cardinal and Maureen Ruddy Burkhart.
2017 – Present
Photography sabbatical, Barcelona, Spain and Mendoza, Argentina.
Publications
2010
Images used for storefront publicity pamphlet, TecnoPubli, Vía Augusta 97, Barcelona, Spain.
Publicity image (printed enlargement) used in commercial restaurant, Pa, Degustació i Delicatessen, Carrers Vallirana i Numancia, Barcelona, Spain.
2011
Image used in newspaper sports article, “Tooke Completes 375-mile Bicycle Race”, March 19, 2011, Del Rio News Herald.
2012
Images used for front and back of book cover, Unfinished Business by Dex Tooke, AuthorHouse, 2012.
2013
Images from front and back book cover of Unfinished Business used to create a Dex Tooke “Hometown Hero” poster kiosk at Plaza del Sol Mall, Del Rio, Texas.
2014
One of four photographers selected to display work on the Photography for a Change (2021: link no longer active) virtual art gallery during the months of April and May. A unique online concept, print sales from this website go to support two non-profit organizations: Western Resource Advocates, a regional environmental organization dedicated to protecting the West’s land, air and water, and Attention Homes, a safe resource for youth in crisis providing shelter, structure, and access to crucial services so that homeless and displaced youth can become stable, independent members of our community and achieve their potential.
Five images selected for use in the Western Resource Advocates Annual Report. Images: “Yellowstone River, Sunrise, #4”, “Maroon Bells Peaks, Fall Classic”, “Mesa Arch View, #4”, “Landscape Arch, Sunrise & Moon”, “Eldorado Springs Canyon, Winter, #2”.
2015
Multiple Colorado landscape images selected and licensed for use in Colorado State University’s online Colorado Encyclopedia Project publication.
2016
One of twenty-eight photographers selected as a 2016 Black & White Magazine Portfolio Spotlight Award Winner. Interview and sample work to be published in Black & White in the June, 2017 issue. The portfolio chosen was “An Orwellian New York“.
2017
Image selected for publication in Quest for Respect (Intotemak, Spring 2017), a publication of the Mennonite Church of Canada. The purpose of the publication is to nurture “indigenous-settler relations”. Image selected: “The Power Place” (Navajo Nation, Arizona, 2016).
Abstract image of Brooklyn Bridge licensed and used for wall-sized mural at Flywheel Sports, New York, New York.
Four-page Spotlight Award feature published in the June 2016 (Number 121) of Black & White Magazine. Portfolio: “An Orwellian New York“.
2018
One of twenty-eight photographers selected as a 2018 Black & White Magazine Spotlight Award Winner. Interpretive text and sample work to be published in Black & White in April, 2019 (Issue #132). Portfolio: “Colorado Front Range: Neo-Topographics“.
2019
Twelve Colorado landscape images licensed and purchased for use as large murals throughout the new University of Colorado (Boulder) dormitory halls at Williams Village East.
2017 – Present
Photography sabbatical, Barcelona, Spain and Mendoza, Argentina.