And before there was Photoshop, there was Jan Saudek ...

The manipulation of images began long before the advent of Photoshop and digital imaging. One of my favorite photographers,Jan Saudek, inspired me to try sepia toning, try hand-colouring, and to see beyond a literal image.

Like Saudek's single window in a basement apartment that provided a central focal point in many of his images, I, likewise found beauty in a deteriorated and patched plaster wall in my then kitchen. It, like Saudek's window, became a regular backdrop for my photographs. Had I not been prompted by Saudek's recurring use of "what is", decay, grit, and found items, I may never have been awakened to the textures of that wall and how one can turn the mundane into magic.