Why?
When my children were young they reached a point when they wanted to know the how and why of everything. It wasn’t just why are we having this for dinner but why is the grass green, how does television work, why do trees grow, how tall will I be, why did my toy break. The exercise usually started out simple and then became a serious test of knowledge when they would ask things like how do airplanes fly, how many stars are there, how do automobile engines work, or why is grandma sick. Explaining how airplanes fly was always easier than than trying to explain the reasons for anyone’s illness, with illness there is always uncertainty.
Why do I like this photograph? I did this photograph in the late 70s and has been in and out of my portfolio and I just found it again in a slide box. I don’t know why I like it and it might be because I connect with this mask on some emotional level. I’ve seen art directors have strange and different reactions to it also. This masked performer was trying to annoy me and I responded by making a series of photographs of him/her and this one became my favorite because it was unexpected.