About Dottie

Baltimore City

Much has gone missing in our pandemic years. People and our way of life top the list of the missing. But, with the world in slow motion, we have had much time to become cognizant of the many facets of our world that are disappearing. It is alarming to watch people, animals, birds, habitats, civility and political systems disappear. 

My photographic work over the last couple of years depicts disappearance. Each series undergoes a transition from the detailed and distinct to an… more

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Patina Paintings

The images in the Patina Painting portfolio achieve their abstraction by avoiding context. The compositions are found in the painted metal surfaces of old trucks and they mimic abstract expressionist paintings. They are painterly photographs of paint. This mimicry, the lack of context, and the large scale of the photographs combine to create this type of photographic abstraction.
  • Impulse
    Impulse
    This 30" x 30" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Interrupted Scratches
    Interrupted Scratches
  • Crescent Glaze
    Crescent Glaze
  • Entropy
    Entropy
  • Escape-O
    Escape-O
  • Drawn Scratches
    Drawn Scratches
  • Contest
    Contest
  • Flare
    Flare
  • Iridescent Efflux
    Iridescent Efflux
  • Midnight Crackle
    Midnight Crackle

Movement-Geons

In 1987, American vision scientist Irving Biederman theorized that human beings mentally break down images into simple geometric shapes in order to make sense of them. These simple geometric shapes are called geons.
Geons are used to anchor the movement in this portfolio of photographs. The geons are embellished and softened by my moving camera capture. The context of these photographs is not clear and the photographic detail is blurred, but the geons allow the viewer a safe platform, an organizing structure, from which they can investigate the abstraction of the images.
  • 1-A Slow Burn-DCampbell.jpg
    1-A Slow Burn-DCampbell.jpg
    Spinning Earth...getting hotter / 24” x 36” Pigment Ink Photographic Print
  • 2-Circlet-DCampbell.jpg
    2-Circlet-DCampbell.jpg
    Looking through textured hardness / 24” x 36” Pigment Ink Photographic Print
  • 3-Artistic Coffins-DCampbell.jpg
    3-Artistic Coffins-DCampbell.jpg
    An awareness of closure / 24” x 36” Pigment Ink Photographic Print
  • 4-Entering Through-DCampbell.jpg
    4-Entering Through-DCampbell.jpg
    Leaving the sky and moving through irregular corridors / 24” x 36” Pigment Ink Photographic Print
  • 5-Grooved Garage-DCampbell.jpg
    5-Grooved Garage-DCampbell.jpg
    My movement design on the garage / 24” x 36” Pigment Ink Photographic Print
  • 6-Record-DCampbell.jpg
    6-Record-DCampbell.jpg
    Movement impression of toroid graphic / 24” x 36” Pigment Ink Photographic Print
  • Spikes On
    Spikes On
    Impressions of reflection on base of industrial metal. Image from the Movement-Geons portfolio / 24” x 36” Pigment Ink Photographic Print

Vehicular Landscapes

Superimposed layers of reality, the distortion of reflection, and the framing of the composition all combine to photographically abstract these images of automobiles. One’s focus in the image vacillates between two realities: the reflecting surface of the vehicle itself and that of the landscape reflection carried on the vehicle's surface. I love this restless abstraction. It is a familiar and accessible kind of abstraction because we all have  seen reflections in cars, but the photographs of this portfolio make us wonder about, and long to see more clearly, the realities from which the photographs were captured. The abstraction causes a lingering visual question about both the vehicle and the landscape.
  • Red
    Red
    This 24" x 36" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Presented with Pollen
    Presented with Pollen
    This 24" x 36" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Anomalous Landscape
    Anomalous Landscape
    This 24" x 36" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Unrevealed
    Unrevealed
    This 36" x 24" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Contiguity
    Contiguity
    This 24" x 36" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Black Buick Cottonwood
    Black Buick Cottonwood
    This 36" x 24" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Fade
    Fade
    This 24" x 36" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Picnic
    Picnic
    This 36" x 24" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Blue Shine
    Blue Shine
    This 24" x 36" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Curvalinear Capture
    Curvalinear Capture
    This 24" x 36" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.

Obscuration

The images of this portfolio use methods of obscuring the subject matter to achieve their photographic abstraction. The photographs visually fuse the two realities of “this” side and “that” side, and the overlapping compositions create the abstraction. The subject matter on the other side of the obscuration adds tantalizing elements to the composition. It is the part of the composition that becomes most abstracted.
 
When I am denied access to places where I would like to photograph, I begin to compose my photographs using the barriers preventing my access as compositional material. This can make me feel fortunate, indeed, that I am on my particular side of the barrier. Without the barrier,  I would have missed some wonderful images.
  • Linear Condensate
    Linear Condensate
    This 36" x 24" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • A Run in the Dew
    A Run in the Dew
    This 24" x 36" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Light Through the Train
    Light Through the Train
    This 36" x 24" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Spring Screen
    Spring Screen
    This 36" x 24" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Long Form
    Long Form
    This 24" x 36" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Garden Guardians
    Garden Guardians
    This 24" x 36" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Droplet Collector
    Droplet Collector
    This 36" x 24" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Space Between Slats
    Space Between Slats
    This 36" x 24" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Etched
    Etched
    This 24" x 36" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Seeing Through the Curtain
    Seeing Through the Curtain
    This 24" x 36" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.

Movement-Soft

The Movement-Soft portfolio delves into the photographic abstraction that is a result of my camera movement at the time of capture. For this portfolio, I used  larger, freer movements of the camera in order to free compositions of photographic detail and to create a softening of form and  blending of color.  In some images, the motion of the subject suggested the movement pattern for the camera. Throughout this portfolio, I wanted to enliven the painterly attributes of the image.
  • Flaxen Flare
    Flaxen Flare
  • DCampbell-Bundling Current.jpg
    DCampbell-Bundling Current.jpg
    Impressions of irrigated blossoms in San Diego 24” x 36” Pigment Ink Photographic Print
  • Fragments and Divisions
    Fragments and Divisions
    Impression of gharial and environment 24” x 36” Pigment Ink Photographic Print
  • Greenhouse Gesture
    Greenhouse Gesture
  • Washed Sky Square
    Washed Sky Square
    This 20" x 20" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • DCampbell-Treasure-2.jpg
    DCampbell-Treasure-2.jpg
    Impression of moving basket 24” x 36” Pigment Ink Photographic Print
  • DCampbell-Warming Shadows-2.jpg
    DCampbell-Warming Shadows-2.jpg
    Impression of garden sunlight 24” x 36” Pigment Ink Photographic Print
  • DCampbell-Streaming-2.jpg
    DCampbell-Streaming-2.jpg
    Impressions of fish in flowing waters 24” x 36” Pigment Ink Photographic Print
  • DCampbell-Streak-2.jpg
    DCampbell-Streak-2.jpg
    Aqueous impression 24” x 36” Pigment Ink Photographic Print
  • DCampbell-Plumes-2_.jpg
    DCampbell-Plumes-2_.jpg
    Impression of flames and feathers 24” x 36” Pigment Ink Photographic Print

Thespian Landscapes

Since a steady camera is not required for my moving camera capture, I am able to photograph in environments where the light is very low. In these low light environments, my camera motion has a painterly and flattening effect. The movement-created textures in the images can be very complex because the slow shutter speed enables more choreography of camera movements. This portfolio is designed to have a theatrical effect, like landscapes illuminated and set on a stage.
  • Diaphanous Sections
    Diaphanous Sections
    This 20” x 30” photograph is printed with pigment ink on photographic rag paper.
  • Transmuted Glade
    Transmuted Glade
    This 36" x 24" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  •  Nocturnal Germination
    Nocturnal Germination
    This 20” x 30” photograph is printed with pigment ink on photographic rag paper.
  • Budding Escarpment
    Budding Escarpment
    This 20” x 30” photograph is printed with pigment ink on photographic rag paper.
  • Circumscribed Undergrowth
    Circumscribed Undergrowth
    This 24” x 20” photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Windswept Light
    Windswept Light
    This 36" x 24" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Ancient Lair
    Ancient Lair
    This 30” x 20” photograph is printed with pigment ink on photographic rag paper.
  • Unstable Atmosphere
    Unstable Atmosphere
    This 36" x 24" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Sky Intrusion
    Sky Intrusion
    This 36" x 24" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Filtered Daylight
    Filtered Daylight
    This 24" x 36" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.

Luminous Looking Glass

The motion, surface texture, and reflective nature of water create abstraction of a photographic image. The organizing principles of perspective are distorted and landscapes reflected in water look strangely unfamiliar. There are many layers of abstraction at work here. The moving, distorted landscape reflection interacts with the water’s surface texture, and it is also possible to look through them both to the see things underneath the water. All these layers combine and are frozen in a photographic image. The photographs have a painterly quality about them with colors blending and “brushstrokes” being formed by wind on the water’s surface. I like it that the water has a hand in the photographic composition. In the time it takes for the camera’s shutter to be released, the composition that was seen in the viewfinder has changed.
  • Deep Woods Dream
    Deep Woods Dream
    This 36" x 24" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Celestial Equine
    Celestial Equine
    This 24" x 36" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Mirrored Surface
    Mirrored Surface
    This 36" x 24" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Watercolor Hide & Seek
    Watercolor Hide & Seek
    I was so caught up in the reflected landscape, the water's ripples, and the surface of the pool's bottom, that when I captured the image, I didn't see the two turtles that had wanted their pictures taken, too. This 36" x 24" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Surface Gold
    Surface Gold
    A gold colored statue colored the sparkling surface water of this fountain with an abstract design. This 24" x 36" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Spring Energies
    Spring Energies
    The shadows of trees along the water's edge play across the distorted reflection of a spring green tree. They add a deep coolness to the abstraction. This 24" x 36" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Netted Waters
    Netted Waters
    An expanse of water abstracts and reflects the glass-covered atrium above it. The captured image created an impression of the soaring architectural curves inside which was more complete than one could see with the eye. This 24" x 36" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Earth and Water Dreams
    Earth and Water Dreams
    Reflections from glass and water create this abstracted landscape. In this kind of situation, it is challenging to find the photographic point of view where all the realities are meshed together into a composition that works. This 36" x 24" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper. .
  • Liquid Losing Color
    Liquid Losing Color
    This 24" x 36" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • The Water Dance of Trees
    The Water Dance of Trees
    This 24" x 36" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.

Movement-Sharpened

Using fast, erratic camera movements and novel sharpening techniques I have created these images that evoke the fast pace of modern life
  • Upper Stories
    Upper Stories
    This 24" x 36" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Neighbor's Gate
    Neighbor's Gate
    This 36" x 24" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Late
    Late
    This 24" x 36" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Closely Mosaic
    Closely Mosaic
    This 24" x 36" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Passing Along
    Passing Along
    This 24" x 36" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Pattern Dividers
    Pattern Dividers
    This 24" x 36" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Perforated Light
    Perforated Light
    This 24" x 36" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Washed Sky Square
    Washed Sky Square
    This 20" x 20" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.
  • Hurried Glaze
    Hurried Glaze
  • Storm Winds
    Storm Winds
    This 24" x 36" photograph is printed with pigment ink on satin photographic paper.

Movement-Greyed

As photographic images approach black and white, the focus is on texture and tonal range.  Color becomes an accent in the composition. My moving camera capture technique was quick and erratic for these images and I worked with various sharpening techniques in developing the image. 
  • 6-Stanzas-DCampbell.jpg
    6-Stanzas-DCampbell.jpg
    Impressions of musical forms / 24” x 36” Pigment Ink Photographic Print
  • Disc
    Disc
  • Puzzled
    Puzzled
  • 10-Waters Below-DCampbell.jpg
    10-Waters Below-DCampbell.jpg
    Moving water and camera creating impressions of fountain and stream / 24” x 36” Pigment Ink Photographic Print
  • 11-Glass on Glass-DCampbell.jpg
    11-Glass on Glass-DCampbell.jpg
    Camera-movement enlivened highlights on glass surfaces / 24” x 36” Pigment Ink Photographic Print
  • 12-Sun on Strands-DCampbell.jpg
    12-Sun on Strands-DCampbell.jpg
    Camera movement assisting the wind through winter trees / 24” x 36” Pigment Ink Photographic Print
  • Native Histories
    Native Histories
  • Inscriptions
    Inscriptions
  • 15-Cultural Artifact-DCampbell.jpg
    15-Cultural Artifact-DCampbell.jpg
    Rough surfaces and design enlivened by sunlight and camera movement / 24” x 36” Pigment Ink Photographic Print