Olga 1

'Olga 1' - 1985                                                                                                                                                                snake

The Conundrum   Whitetail deer are among the most ascetically beautiful animals, and yet, a bowhunter will shoot them, aiming at their vital organs, with the hopes of killing them. How can this be? The reasons can range from the practical to the philosophical to the purely biological.  For starters, hunting (a form of scientific game management) ensure that whitetail will always continue to thrive. The venison these magnificent animals provide is among the healthiest and tastiest meat, surpassing their domestic counterparts by miles. Of course, the chance to arrow these beautiful creatures, who are unmatched in their survival characteristics, fills a bowhunter with the highest respect for the whitetail. By putting the fair chase laws at the forefront to hunt this quarry, and giving thanks when we are able to arrow the whitetail, our egos are eliminated. Any bowhunter worth his salt knows that the whitetail will win the chase more times than not and for those reasons, we treasure the experience.

How could I shoot (photograph) my mother while she was dying from cancer?  By following the same rules of any ethical hunter. My mother knew I was a photographer and that my life’s work was to document.  She knew I would never exploit her illness for my own gain. In essence, she trusted that I would use the same unwritten rules for photographing her, as I would with the whitetail I shoot.  Olga 1 is the first of the series of the personal photographs which I shot while both caring for and documenting my mother’s battle with a brain tumor.