My interest in photography is rooted in my career as a professional archaeologist. An archaeologist must command a number of skills to be able to excavate, analyze, and report a site. I learned what I know about photography by taking record photographs on excavations, which requires a good eye for composition and detail. My photographs have been used to illustrate many technical reports, brochures, popular reports, and even a book cover for a University of Tennessee Press volume.
My photographs are taken with a Nikon Coolpix 990 or Nikon D100 digital camera, and printed on special paper on an Epson Stylus Photo 2200 printer. Both Nikons have extremely good lens systems, and produce clear images that maintain excellent quality when produced as 8X10 or larger prints. The Epson Stylus Photo 2200 printer produces high quality prints that can last 75 years without fading. The quality and permanence of the Epson Stylus Photo 2200 prints are comparable to darkroom photographs.
The photographs I currently offer fall into five categories. I offer views of prehistoric Anasazi sites in New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah, as well as prehistoric petroglyphs from the same area. My second subject area is landscapes, which include scenes from the American Southwest and eastern Tennessee. The third category is historic buildings and structures, including photographs from in and around Dandridge, Tennessee, and single photographs from Denbigh, Virginia, and York, England. My fourth category is fossils, and all of the prints offered in that category are from a single area near Tuba City, Arizona. My largest category is composed of florals, and those images were taken in and around Dandridge, Tennessee, Newport News, Virginia, and Jackson County, Tennessee. The floral shots have all been modified to produce images suggestive of watercolor prints or other effects.
My approach to photography is simple. I try to capture at least some of the beauty that surrounds all of us and freeze those images so that they can continue to be appreciated.
Patrck H. Garrow
