Early on my photographs were a source of validation and record of personal events. They validated an event or where I had been, with whom and when it took place. It was purely a recreational hobby and there was not a lot of preparation, let alone thought, when I pressed that shutter button.

When I got my first real camera, the 35 mm Pentax K 1000, it was a whole new world. The camera was solid (body was all metal), mechanically controlled (springs, gears and levers) and did not need batteries. It was simple to use. The electronics were as basic as a light meter needle with a + and - sign for exposure and you would focus it manually. It was, and still is, in my opinion one of the best cameras to help you turn on your own creativity  The drawback to all that simplicity was the format for pictures.

Until the late 90’s the format to get a printed picture was from film negatives. Which means not only buying film, but paying to get it the film processed , with no guarantees on the end result .

If you were an amateur trying to hone your skills by taking multiple shots of a subject, experimenting with light, ISO settings etc., it was an expensive proposition.

That was the down side, the long term upside benefit was that I got selective in what I shot. I stared treating this hobby as an art form. The number of recreational shots decreased and now the photographs started to have some” depth” to them (beyond the technical connotation). I started to capture what I later would label as the ”Relevant Ambiguous Background”. 

This RA perspective developed back in the film days was that each location is like a jigsaw puzzle and there is more to a subject than the initial draw. I had to look beyond the obvious and capture the diverse, the undefined and the ambiguous all of which sit in the unfocused background. It was my approach that to swing the lens away from the main attraction(s) and to study and observe the RA is to define the essence of the subject.

Why relevant? Relevancy, to me, is that unfocused, silent background which, defines or is the essence of a location and/or brings definition to a moment captured by the lens.

Why ambiguous?  Because these backgrounds are often so indistinct, obscure or assumed they go ignored. Yet if you look hard you will see they are not as obscure as they may seem at first glance and can tell the rest of the story.

Need an example of RA? Think Central Park in NY. There are many however the number of pieces that make that park what it as and complete, go far beyond the trees, horse drawn carriages and the carousel (as examples). Central Park has a significantly large, active and ever changing RAB, which gives it it’s depth and ever-changing character.

So, this site has galleries and each gallery is devoted to a specific subject matter, location, event, etc. It’s a photo journey within each gallery. Not all the galleries have an RAB, some are just an expression of what I saw when shooting. Each gallery has a blog which will give you insight to that gallery and its content. The galleries will change periodically.  right now I

We have posted 2galleries plus the the loose negatives which i actually a preview of the ”up-and-coming” gallery subjects.  The overall goal here is to share and see if the RAB perspective is something that will enhance your approach to creating your personal galleries.

One final note -- Technically the shots are not perfect. I shoot what inspires me a specific moment . When I do have the time I will try and get it right, however I often don’t have time to make specific adjustments especially when you only have fractions of a second to capture a shot -- my goal is to capture that moment.