Years ago i found myself trying to justify my existence and worth to a perfect bitch of an art professor at Syracuse University. It’s a long story, but suffice to say when asked who were my chief photographic influences i replied “Harry Callahan and Lee Friedlander are far and away the most influential artists in my life.”

“You’re kidding right?” came the reply.

“No. I’m not kidding at all. My work owes much more to Lee Friedlander, but it was Harry Callahan’s early work where i first came to understand what a photograph could be.”

The professor sat in stunned silence, then in tone reserved for toddlers said, “it’s not possible to claim two complete opposites as influences. To do so indicates you have no place in this school and, frankly, i’m astounded you were granted an interview.”

Later, during the same day-long interview, a technician in the film lab said “oh god, you had to deal with her? She’s a total cunt.”

I didn’t get admitted to the MFA program at Syracuse (oh, damn), but that experience was prescient; i was then and am now a <insert noun here> of contrasts. Which is why i really like Oregon.

[slidepress gallery=’the-oregon-outback’]