Introduction to "Friends, Figures and Infinites"- Part I

An introduction to my first solo photographic exhibit entitled "Friends, Figures and Infinites" held in Novermber of 1963 at Gallery 110 in New York City

My photographs are an extension of myself, a part of my life. This life is based on a universal, eternal philosophy, the symbols of which I often find reflected in the minute by minute existence of myself and those around me.
It has been said that as sculpture was the chief expression of the Greco-Roman civilization and painting of the Renaissance, so photography is the medium of our time. The many faceted philosophy of existentialism dominates, much of it sprung from a disillusion with our age of calculation. Nevertheless, the moods of our time still reflect strongly scientific accuracy, documentation, objectivity. Photography is an ideal medium to record these moods and most of the great work has been and is being done in the field of photojournalism and documention.
Many of the earliest photographs dealt with ideas and ideals, but stated with more Victorian prose than poetry, they speak to us only negatively today. Reacting against the moral dualism of that time, we threw out the baby with the bath and a directionless society today often finds itself equating photos of puppies with mangled bodies, astronauts with murderers, strangers on street corners with glamorous nudes, psychologically peeling paint with scenes of stark tragedy.
(to be continued)