INTERVIEW BY H CANDEE

THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF BRUCE PANOCK

INTERVIEW BY HARRYET CANDEE PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHS BY BOBBY MILLER

Bruce, being a fine art photographer, you work closely with the natural elements: Earth, Air, Water, fire and Space. What of these elements have you found to be challenging, easy, difficult to work with? I’m not sure that there is an easiest or hardest element. My work is about photographing what I refer to as the “intimate landscape;” small spaces, as I wander in Nature. When I get back to the computer, I isolate those elements that first attracted me by masking out certain elements of the scene in the photograph. Often the message becomes clearer as I’m working on the image. It’s rare that I begin an image with the thought that I want to convey. The process is one of evolution, both of the content and the thought of the image. I should note that at times certain features that have been previously masked out of the image are added back in later stages. Sometimes these masked-out features add back texture or movement or some other intangible that enhances the image-thought. These steps are acts of subtraction, then addition, then modification in some fashion, or just deletion altogether. It’s the image itself which helps me decide as it evolves.

I know how much you love working with the camera, but have you ever found it has it’s limitations? I am able to accomplish quite a bit in camera. But the work that I make requires a good deal of modification. I am not able, for health reasons, to accomplish these edits using paint, or the other applications available to painters and to photographers who work using alternative processes. Photoshop enables me to accomplish quite a bit. My limitations are more about my knowledge and background. I have no formal art training, so self-study has been an important component. Yet, for all the self-study, there is still something missing which formal art training, I’m sure, would add to my foundation.

You have mentioned that it takes many prints to get to a perfect print. Can you explain what that means? There is something about the physical print which the screen just can’t compete with in the presentation of a work of art. The image is made

Panock Abstract Trees in the Forest Panock Birch Tree

in the camera whether via film or digitally. When the image is brought into the computer for modification (unless, of course the photographer works in the analogue world), the image is processed according to the artist’s vision. Then what? Will the presentation of the image be limited to the cellphone screen, the iPad, or the computer screen? Each viewing device which shares the image is limited by technology and color fidelity. Are vibrant colors shown the way they were made in processing? Are blacks as deep? Will shadows retain detail? And so much more. In short, not every screen shares the image the same way. When the photographer prints, new possibilities are available. Colors can be as vibrant as they are seen in our mind, the blacks as deep and detailed as they were made in processing, the same with the brightest colors and whites. By selecting from the various papers and surfaces (metals, glass, plastics) which are available, the artist opens up the possibility of sharing the work as was intended, as the artist saw it in their mind’s eye as the work was created. Each paper has its own characteristics. Each paper brings out the last piece of the image. Subtleness, Gloss. Texture. The richness of the colors. I test various papers to find that paper to find that paper which I hope will best show what I’m trying to share.

Can you describe the way in which you find your work beneficial to your life? Do you keep a journal? I journal every day. I write whatever is going through my mind at the time. Some of these thoughts find their way into my work. They can be the beginnings of an image, or the resolution to a problem I have as I am developing the work. In much the same way as my written journal, my art serves as a visual journal. It allows me to put voice to my thoughts and the issues which occupy those thoughts. The subjects of the work cover things that are quite personal, politics, the issues of the day, almost anything which has meaning to me. With some images I am able to offload some of the tension. With other images, in the discussion that I have as the work evolves, the tension might build. These days the isolation necessitated by the Covid pandemic is the source for much of the work. There is so much to be explored when addressing isolation and what it means, both within and outside of the Covid space. It’s odd, I never intended that the art would act as a companion journal to the written journal.

What substantiates the borders of a selling artist and a creating artist? Certainly, we all want to sell our work, but I Continued on next page...

Panock What We’ve Done

Panock Alone But Not Alone make the images to meet my own needs. My goal in making my art is to address issues that are bothering me, that I need to resolve or at least come to terms with. If I can, I want to create a connection with the viewer so that they might be able to find their own meaning and message in the image. This does not always result in work that might be shared on a living room wall. I have accepted this limitation. It is the connection that is important.

Reading books when at a young age helps to develop visualization skills beneficial to artists. Thoughts? I have always been a reader. I am very much a visual learner. As I make each photograph, I am always learning. Then as I bring the image into the computer and begin to process the work, I am always thinking about what I see evolving on the screen. I’m always asking myself “why?” Why am I taking the direction that I am? For what purpose? My daily workflow includes time for study which includes reading on subjects about art or related to art making. For me this involves trying to understand why I’m on the path that I’m on and what am I trying to express. There is a continuing learning process. I don’t think that this ever ends.

What are your artistic goals? My work, if successful, is intended to create a connection with the viewer regarding things that are important to me. To share a bit of me. To understand that we must be respectful of this world which we inhabit. To think about how our actions impact others. To understand that we are merely custodians of this world for future generations.

In what ways have you honed your photography skills? Constant study of the work of the other artists, regardless of which discipline they practice and their level of skill. Using my cameras and lenses in any way that crosses my mind, mistakes notwithstanding, and experimenting in Photoshop (my editing tool of choice). I learn from repetition and I build on my mistakes, which are really just building blocks.

Is there a photograph that you have taken that has a particular significance for you? I have strong feelings about this image (What We’ve Done). It was made entirely from images of places in the Berkshires. The pond is

Panock Impressionist Wall

Panock Basket

the marsh near the Stockbridge Bowl. The frame is from a photograph made at Mass MOCA. The image is pretty heavily edited to show what will happen to this beautiful place where we live, and the rest of the planet, if we don’t begin to take care of it. Maybe our efforts might even be too late. These are some of the issues which weigh on me and what I want to express in my art.

How would you judge a landscape or a stilllife before capturing it on camera? My goal is to try and find shapes, patterns and textures. I’m not terribly good at broad vistas. I find that I achieve my best when I isolate on features, such as vines, branches, and other features of nature (the intimate landscape). Essentially, I am collecting subjects that can be used in later images. When I am out wandering with my camera, I think about how to best capture the details of the subject, its lines and flow. Have I captured the colors of the subject properly? Do I want a subject that is frozen in time, or do I want a sense of movement in the frame? How will I share that sense of movement? As with every other photographer, I think about which tools and camera settings will work best. As best I can, I try to accomplish as much as possible in the camera, before I get to Photoshop. Each tool has a different purpose. A long lens (i.e., a 500mm lens) will flatten the foreground and the background, providing a certain appearance to the image. A 17mm lens (wide angle lens) will show the far-off points (i.e., mountain ranges) very distant. Each tool allows us to make choices.

Have you found the tech age, digital world to be demanding from an artist’s point of view? Two part answer. First, the tech age has enabled me to participate in something that I’ve begun to learn and love. In particular Photoshop has opened doors for me that would have otherwise been closed. Seven years ago, Continued on next page...

Panock Red Leaf Panock The Feeling of Alone

I had a lung transplant. Of the limitations that I live with, no irritants or chemicals are permitted to be inhaled. I have one lung that works, so inhaling any irritant is not allowed. Enter Photoshop. No chemicals, no dust. Just a computer and my imagination. Though I would love to try some techniques to layer other materials onto my work, I can accomplish most of what I want in Photoshop. I accept the limitations. Second, the technology and the internet has opened up so much in the way of museums and video presentations, that anyone can learn almost anything they want. When I was sick, before my surgery, I was quite house bound. Couldn’t walk steps for quite a while, so iPad and the internet to the rescue. I studied schools of art that I never studied. Amazing how much quality content can be found on YouTube at no cost. To this day I spend time on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram looking at the work of other artists. Always something to learn.

How are you making your photographs available to the public? Hard question. I have entered numerous juried competitions, and have been fortunate enough to be juried into a few competitions with some very talented artists. There are more rejections than acceptances, thus the need for the thick skin. I don’t take it personally. There are many very talented artists submitting, not every image can get selected, and not every judge will view my work the same way. But the more people who judge my work, I think the better my longterm possibilities. Also, after each competition, I look at the accepted works and those not accepted, and try to understand where my work didn’t quite measure up. Everything is a learning experience. Instagram is an important tool. I’ve been invited to participate in some events that I would have otherwise never been invited. For example, I was recently invited to show my work on the Laurel Hill Association website. They have originated a new page, Artists on Nature, and my work is in their inaugural show. This would have never happened had my work not been seen on Instagram.

Tell us about The Waters of March Project. This came about because of a reconnection with a friend from high school who I hadn’t seen in 50 years. He saw my work on Instagram and invited me to join with a group of other artists to create a joint project. Antonio Carlos Jobim (The Girl from Ipanima) wrote the music and lyrics for The Waters of March. Each of the participat-

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Panock A Heavy Burden

ing artists selected phrases from the song and created works that expressed the phrases that they had selected. This was extremely challenging, as I had never worked in this manner. I made lots of attempts, every one of these attempts a failure until I decided to think in terms of collage and montage. During this time I had begun looking into symbolism and how it might fit into the work I was making. This project was a big step forward from the realist style of work that I made before my surgery to the current style of my work which looks more deeply inward.

I enjoy viewing your photographs in The Home Project. How did this project start and evolve into a substantial body of work? The Home Project, that body of work grew out of the period of time when I was sick, before my lung transplant surgery. There was a period, a bit more than a year, when I couldn’t do much. I was quite tethered (my oxygen concentrator) to two rooms in our home. Bedroom to kitchen and back. That was my world (other than TV and the internet). After the surgery, when I realized that I had a future, I began seeing with different eyes. I first began photographing my rooms, then looking back on what it was like when I was sick. This “looking back” was beginning of collage work where I combined images of me limited by illness with images of a healthy me post-surgery. Then I started looking at the same space that I had occupied previously, but with a touch of the abstract, working with depth of field, texture and color. Something had changed. I shifted quite a bit from the straight, realistic approach that I had taken before I was sick, to more of how I saw with an inner intangible. I’m a big fan of the abstract expressionists, in particular Mark Rothko. While I was sick, I looked at all forms of visual art. I was particularly drawn to the Abstract Expressionists, and the Surrealists, both photographers and painters. I seem to be drawn to these genres. I guess the conclusion to this question is that the current work is tied to the Home portfolio, it’s a series of steps, building on each other.

Tell us about the Encaustic Influence Project. How do you work with nature and encaustics? I am influenced by many styles of art and art making. Including texture as part of the art is an important component of my work. Seeing how the application of wax to a surface and its impact on color and dimension, changing the energy of a piece fascinates me. Every work is unique as a result. I would love to be able to employ that technique, but I’m limited, as previously discussed. So, as I work on an image in Photoshop, I try and “see” how an encaustic layer might add a third dimension to the work. With Photoshop this can come close, not really replicate, but provide a sense of the impact this technique can have on an image. Color. Let me begin by saying that I struggle to get color right. Much of my work stays within a very definite color. The color field work of Mark Continued on next page...

Panock A lonesome Road

Rothko and Clifford Still have a heavy influence. I work with color wheels, looking at how colors match up or conflict. I try to keep things simple for fear of a glaring mistake.

What shift took place with your photography after leaving the city and moving to the country regarding your photography work? A definite shift from street photography to landscape work. When we lived in NYC I was working, so there wasn’t nearly enough time to get out and photograph the way that I work now. Influences, more availability of museums showing more styles of art, but this was really just building my foundations and appreciation for what “could be.” 10 years ago the image libraries weren’t as available on the internet as they are now. I took a number of evening classes at the International Center of Photography, from the very basic, to classes which pushed hard at what I thought photography might be for me. Seeing the work of so many other students and how they approached their work was a powerful influence.

How was life for you while living in the city? In many respects life was easier. You walk out the front door of the building and found whatever you needed. However, the job demanded long hours, so that’s where I spent most of my time. I must add, that I really like a big back yard and the woods just across the street.

How did you discover the Berkshires? My wife was a camper up here many years ago. She knew about Tanglewood and Jacob’s Pillow. After a few long weekends at the Applegate Inn, we started looking for a house. We bought with the view of retiring here. Turned out to be a great decision. Lots of nice people in a beautiful part of the world. fluences you have brought closer to you? Outside influences. So many. Photographers, of course, but also painters and sculptors. Eastern art forms, in particular Japanese and Chinese brush painting. European schools and American Schools, photographic as well as painting. I’m all over the place when it comes styles, and I borrow from each. I have a few teachers who’ve exposed me to photographers of all styles, cultures and approaches. But at the same time, these photographers exposed me to painters and how they used light when there was no such thing as electricity. My personal library has a growing collection of work of artists that have attracted my interest. There’s just so much to learn, to absorb. Fortunately, I have the time to learn and experiment.

If I was to ask you to go take a shot at something, spontaneously, what would you shoot? Interesting challenge. I’m not the most spontaneous person you will meet. Probably why I

Panock Isolation Body and Soul

Panock Dead Tree Portrait

wasn’t much good at street photography when we lived in NYC. I am not fast. I ponder. I will stare at a scene for a while before I even reach for my camera. When I first read this question, my brain began thinking about subjects and what I might share with you.

What pointers would you give to someone interested in learning how to use a camera? Turn off all of the automatic settings. Make mistakes. Use each dial, button and knob until you know what they will do, why and when each setting is appropriate for the image you want to make. Make mistakes, but learn to think about how you want to see something. Use the automatic settings only after you realize what they will do for you. BUT, even buying a plain point and shoot camera which has nothing but a shutter button can be a wonderful experience. Here’s an exercise that I was given in a class long time back. Make a circle 6 feet in diameter. Only photograph objects in that circle. Make 36 frames (was back when I learned on a film cameras). Object…learn to observe what is around you. Don’t just “spray and pray.” Think about the work.

Bruce, what do you consider essential in your life? What is essential, obviously my wife. But otherwise not much has changed for me. When I was sick, I was stuck indoors for about 18 months, almost 2 years if I include the hospital stay. Once the surgery was over, the medications created many restrictions that I’ve lived with for the 7 years since the surgery, and will continue for some time. What’s essential, physical contact, a hand shake, a hug, joining with friends over a nice meal indoors with no mask or distancing. Taking a car ride with a friend without being concerned about confined spaces and distancing. Books. Just simple things. The definition of what is essential changes when you experience long term confinement.

Thank you!

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