Bumstead Canvas Print

This image shot with black and white infrared film was taken next to the BNSF Railway running adjacent to West Olive Avenue in Maricopa County, Arizona. The scene looks west toward the White Tank Mountains.

Initially, the camera was a tool I used to create unaltered images to document the real world, first as an Army medical photographer and later as a newspaper photographer. However, I was always fascinated by the Photoshop tools that allow a photographer to alter the real world and create images that represent fantasy rather than reality. Since I became interested in photography, I admired the way some master photographers, most notably Jerry Uelsmann, merged multiple images into photo montages to create alternate realities. Using the inventory of my own photos I’ve amassed over the years, as well as stock images when necessary, I often combine multiple photographic images to create alternate realities from my imagination.