Artist Statement
In writing this artist statement I realized that I deal mainly with ephemeral visual relationships of all kinds- hence Diversity using the medium of digital photography to express what I see, feel, and imagine. There are all sorts of different relationships: those among strangers or friends, nature and man, among species in nature, communal ones among people, and those generated in one’s mind.
Maybe it’s all those museums I’ve visited. Spending hours looking at painting and sculptures and always asking myself what is the intent (the message) the artist is trying to convey. Recognizing the diverse intentions of artists plays out in developing diversity in your own thinking about subject matter and ways to treat it. This definitely carries over into, the ephemeral visual relationships one sees.
For example, think about how one can visually express solitude: a lonely person, an isolated tree, an empty room, a deserted seashore, such visual relationships are endless. How one responds to the scene before the camera is what makes us all a little different, consciously and subconsciously we are different, so why shouldn’t our diverse personality show up in diverse photographic works. When it happens, it’s usually results in creative outpourings in different subject areas.
David Brooks, NYT columnist, in a July 29, 2019 article on Diversity mentions “people who specialize in one thing succeed early, but then slide back to mediocrity as their minds rigidify.” Diversity in subject matter in photography is a way to keep those little gray cells imagining different ways of seeing things then combining images as well as our thoughts on how to present something new and rewarding. Maybe this is why my website (www.joevotanophotography.com) keeps growing year after year.
— Joseph R. Votano
Joe Votano is avid photographer with his principal areas of interest being fine art, street photography, and documentary photography. He has received numerous awards in both monochromatic and color prints from both the Merrimac and Greater Lynn Photographic Association. His images have been published in Prestige Travel Hong Kong, Michelin Travel Guide, Aishti magazine (Middle East) and in Boston.com (Boston magazine). In the last six years he has had four books published by Schiffer Publishing: the widely acclaimed Boston Below co-authored with Karen Hosking about the Boston subway system; the Shaker Legacies, a 160 page photo-documentary which covers the development of Shakerism in the USA principally in Massachusetts and New York; and in 2018, the Every Changing Coastline and the Timeless Seashore. The latter two books being a combination of fine art and scenic photography coupled to aesthetics. His newest book, Moments to Ponder.. street photography here and elsewhere, is due out in 2021 from Schiffer Publishing. His work can be seen at: www.joevotanophotography.com.
