Invited Photographer: Ken Richardson

Ken's vision has always fascinated me. It's regular and irregular, silent and singing, totally nuts and incredibly sane all at once. I asked him to share some of his new work with us, along with a few words about what he does. This all comes to us from somewhere in Texas.




My images carry no agenda, there are no hidden meanings per se but they are part of what makes me whole, or broken, as the case may be. It is rare that I photograph with a preconceived idea or intent. Things usually just occur as a natural course of evolution. I know that what I do choose to photograph carries a signature to my soul. The things I see and the things that motivate me to shoot resonate somewhere within my psyche, like a momentary flashback of a dream I can’t quite remember in totality. Segmented thought patterns, not knowing the beginning or ending, my vision stuck somewhere in between. As a course of progression, I am motivated first to impressions that I perceive with my eye and mind and in many cases subject almost plays a secondary role.





While I am certainly well versed and adept with the technical issues of film based photography, I in no way consider myself a technical purist nor is it my goal to achieve perfection to the point of sterility. Some of my favorite images carry the imprint of textbook defined technical miscues either through accident or intent. I like things with a bit of quirkiness and as a self-taught photographer adhere to no rigid regime of what “good photography “ is or isn’t. In general, if the final print says something, and the technical issues of tones and contrast have been executed to my satisfaction, then I am content both with my work and the work of others.



. . . . For me part of the enjoyment of photography is working with my eye, hands, and mind to produce the final print. There is nothing for me that compares with the gratification and sheer awe that occurs as a print comes up in the developer. In short, it’s pure magic. . . .




It is my hope that my images capture a sense of time, place, and most importantly sparks some memory or emotive response for the viewer. To that end I continue to learn, attempt to see, experiment, and listen to my soul.





Thank you so much, Ken, for sharing a bit of yourself with us.
more of Ken's work can be seen here. Invited by Jeanne Wells.