The works presented are part of an exploration of the self portrait and are not currently part of a project. I have never been a fan of self-portraits for myself. To change that I enrolled in a self portrait class which forced me to do something I really did not want to do.
As part of that work, I thought ‘How can I be in the picture but not be there as well?’ That started the work in this issue. We live in a rural part of Texas and the cowboy is alive and well here. That started work with the cowboy hat and then the mask as a way to anonymize myself in my own work. This has led me down several fruitful paths that I would not have otherwise taken. I am developing an alter ego which lives in the images, part of me yet not.
Having land lent itself to the work as it was also an exploration of the place we live. It has been a great exercise and I plan to pursue it further as a formal project in the near future.
Mark was born and raised in Alief, Texas, at the time an exurb of Houston. In elementary school he began on his path to art in an after-school art appreciation class. By the time he graduated high school the farms and ranches had been replaced by suburbia. He has always had a fascination with machines and especially how things work.
He moved on to the Northeast to attend Boston University where he earned a degree in Mathematics. Learning the language of science enabled him to get a better understanding of the mechanics of the world around him. At this time his love for photography took hold and he began to work with color and black and white film, slides, transparencies, and prints.
Returning to Houston after graduation he began to explore the commercial aspects of photography as an aerial photographer. Working with the Center for Land Use Interpretation in Los Angeles he also completed his first documentary work, The VORs of Texas, an exhaustive examination of all of the VOR antennas in the State.
Making a switch from aerial photography Mark took up a career in the oilfield, designing and manufacturing equipment for all stages of that very large space. This phase took him around theworld and to Singapore and Norway for extended stays. Photography was still a part of the day to-day work, but of a more practical type.
After leaving the oilfield he resumed a more intimate relationship with photography, working as a freelancer. This work includes portraits, collections, and personal documentaries. To this day he has never stopped taking pictures, never stopped learning and has continued to refine hisphotographic vision.
He lives with his wife Darcy in Hallettsville
