This agave plant provided an opportunity to explore its patterns and textures as revealed by the soft lighting.
Olive Tree, Chefchauoen, Morocco
I continue to comb through my archives during the Covid pandemic. This is my latest find.
There is something about old, gnarled trees that resonates with me. They cannot run away from hardship and adversity to seek a better place to live. They must face whatever challenges life presents and adapt as best they can. Yet they always maintain their dignity.
Autumn Reflection
A woodland pool.
Meeting House Stairway
Interior stairway of the Meeting House in New Marlborough, Massachusetts
Read MoreFinding the Essence of a Photograph
When I am out with my camera and see something that intrigues me in some way, I may make a photograph without knowing exactly what it is about the scene that attracts me. That was the situation this past spring when I took a walk from my house and came upon some trees by a marsh.
The original color image that the digital camera captured seemed okay, but it didn’t evoke any special feeling in me. But once I converted it to a monochrome image and de-emphasized the textures and details, I saw how the tree branches, still leafless, seemed to stretch and bend to fill the frame, and how their tips made a filigree pattern that filled the sky.
Hawai’i Tropical Botanical Garden
Last December I traveled to the Hawaiian Islands. One of the gardens I visited was the Hawai’i Tropical Botanical Garden, located just north of Hilo, Hawai’i. The garden has a spectacular display of tropical plants, both native and exotic. Some of the images in my Tropical Dreamscapes series were taken here.
A section of the garden is devoted to palm trees, where I found this colorful design of roots at the base of one of the trees.
Birch Trees in Iceland
Birch Trees, Iceland, 2013
When one thinks of Iceland, typically it is of a treeless, barren land. So I was surprised and delighted to come upon this idyllic birch forest on a walk one day during my second visit to Iceland, in 2013.
Before Iceland was settled, trees covered 25–40% of the land, and birches were common. Over the centuries, trees were cut for building material, for fuel, and to make grazing land for livestock, leaving the land almost devoid of forests. Recently reforestation efforts have begun to bring back the trees.
Snowfall in May
I have been living in western Massachusetts since March, and that has allowed me to witness weather and the progression of the seasons on a daily basis.. One day in May there were several short snow storms, each lasting no more than 20 minutes. After each storm, the snow quickly melted. When a storm arrived in the early evening I decided to go outside and photograph it. About 10 minutes after I made this exposure, the storm ended.
Photographing Comet NEOWISE
Last month, my wife and I went to a field near our house in western Massachusetts to view Comet NEOWISE, which has been visible on clear nights about an hour and a half after sunset. Just for fun I wanted to try to photograph it. I had never tried photographing the night sky before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was pleased with the results.
Comet NEOWISE
Eyrarbakki, Iceland — 1973 and 2019
Icelandic Fishing Village, 1973
In 1973 I visited Iceland, driving around in a VW bug and camping. Back then I found that the roads were not paved after leaving the Reykjavik area, and driving on gravel roads slowed me down and prevented me from reaching some of the farther destinations I had hoped to see. However, I did see some of the south coast, where I came across this picturesque fishing village and made some photographs, including the one above.
I recently traveled to Iceland again, but before I left home I decided to try to find out about the village I had visited 46 years earlier. I did not remember its name or its location, but I had a sense that it was not too far along the south coast. Using the internet I discovered that even today there are very few villages along that stretch of the south coast where I had traveled earlier. The village of Eyrarbakki is on a road that seemed like one I would have taken on my first trip, so I searched some images and found a recent picture taken near the same location as my older photograph, confirming my hunch.
I visited Eyrarbakki twice on this recent trip and was able to photograph the same scene at approximately the same location as my earlier photo—see below. The fishing boat is long gone; utility wires have been buried underground, and the streets are now paved. Although fishing is no longer an important part of the community, Eyrarbakki has retained much of its charm, and it is a popular destination for Icelanders and tourists alike.
Eyrarbakki, Iceland 2019
Spencertown Academy Juried Photography Show
Two of my photographs have been selected for this show.
Yoshino Cherry Trees
Opening Reception
Saturday, June 22, 4 PM – 6 PM
Exhibition Dates:
June 23 through July 14, 2019
Spencertown Academy
Arts Center
790 Route 203, Spencertown, NY
Gallery Hours:
1 PM – 5 PM
Saturday and Sunday
Driftwood, Bandon Beach
More information:
Spencertown Academy Arts Center
Seeking a Wider Audience
I have started to create collections of my photographs that can be downloaded and viewed for free from my website. Each of these downloaded collections, in the form of a PDF file, will explore an idea, a place, a feeling — any subject that has inspired me in some way. My goal is to gain a wider audience by providing a convenient and pleasing way to view my portfolios and other collections of images. Please take a look at my first two offerings and let me know what you think. Then check back for new ones in the future.
My Interview with Museum TV
I was thrilled and honored to be invited to be interviewed by Museum TV, a French TV channel dedicated to art. The March 2018 interview was held in New York City. The producers graciously permitted me to make it available on my website.
To watch the video, enter the password:
Museum2018
Four Intimate Landscape Photographs in Juried Show
I am fortunate to have four of my intimate black and white landscapes chosen in a juried exhibition art at the Meeting House Gallery in New Marlborough, Massachusetts from June 23 - July 22.
“Each of Backer’s black and white digital photos captures a scene of the natural world, cut into vivid shapes where rigid lines of rock, sand and wood collide and intersect....One photo titled Driftwood at Bandon Beach, taken in Oregon, features a large piece of driftwood set against a sheer rock face. Without color to provide definition for the eye, the driftwood appears almost alien, the husk of some otherworldly creature washed ashore on a beach of some distant planet.”
My 12 Best Pictures of 2017
I find that It is good exercise to review the photos I took in the year past and to choose the ones I like the best. This process gives me the perspective of time to see what worked, what did not, and how I "see" and make images may have changed from the year before — hopefully for the better. Here are the 12 photos I selected from 2017.
