On one level, the idea of photographing in 3-D is just a transparent gimmick to get people to look at my photos—like Lady Ga Ga wearing a meat dress. But on an entirely more sincere level it is an attempt to draw them into looking at what they might not otherwise, and if it takes something like anagrams and 3-D glasses, I’m certainly not too proud.

Besides, I find it pretty hilarious: the idea of presenting flat, two-dimensional scenes in three dimensions. And to heighten the experience of visiting humble Northtown, all the more so. Don’t get me wrong, North Kansas City — or as we locals fondly regard it, the “Paris of Southwest Clay County, Missouri”—is a beautiful place! But this is certainly no collection of kitten videos or gorgeous sunsets.

A coating measured in mils (1 mil = 1 /1000 in).

Some are painted to improve or ‘beautify’, never mind the building material beneath.  Some represent an endless dialog between building owner and graffiti artist.

I've written multiple ‘statements’ about this series, and changed its name (from Painted), but when you get past the rationalization, what the photos are really about is willful blindness.

This has grown into a collection of spaces defined by architectural elements.  Not sure what it means yet.
So far what I’m seeing is the conflict between ‘open’ vs ‘enclosed’ and ‘loss’ vs ‘potential’.  There may or may not be any more to it than that.  After getting Near Grinders, I unconsciously began to analyze and rationalize what it was I was seeing and pretty quickly the ‘concept’ ran out of control ahead of the ‘vision’ —  the verbal half of my brain had taken over from the non-verbal.
So I’m examining these.
What you see here is a ruthlessly culled version of the original series including only those photos that most closely represent what my eye initially saw in that first vacant lot.  I hope to add more, so stayed tuned…