Douglas Stockdale – Photographer’s statement

Ciociaria copyright Douglas Stockdale

One of the take-aways from Photo Book Independent was that I need to really consider exhibiting my photographs. When more than one person states that my photographic work is exceptional and I keep getting comments that my “work” prints are exquisite, I think I am ready for taking the next step in my artistic progression.

One of the many things that I need to consider is a very brief statement about myself. Okay, this is not something that I uber comfortable with, but a necessary part of the artistic process. So here is the thing; I am not a MFA artist, or have you already figured that out? A bit of difference between MFA and MBA whereas the the MBA focused was on business not artistic practice. Interestingly there is also the business of being an artist, but seemingly not held in much esteem by other artists or many galleriest (although there are some folks who run galleries seem to like the idea).

As a non-trained artist with only a few under-grad two-dimensional art classes under my belt, I sometimes get a little bit of anxiety. Especially when my day-job career is biotechnology and pharmaceutical drug development and manufacturing. Thus I realize that I need to leverage that difference as to why that makes my vision, as well as me, unique. So instead of trying to hide that personal angst of a non-artist background with smoke and mirrors, to step out and let it be known. What’s the worst that can happen, eh?

So here is my current brief artist statement (aka the elevator speech):

Douglas Stockdale (American, b. 1949) is a native Pennsylvanian and a graduate of an industrial design program from Michigan State University with a MBA from University of LaVerne. He is a veteran pharmaceutical researcher (part of the team the determined that AIDS was transmitted by blood plasma and a virus that could be easily heat inactivated) as well as a photographer and an International photobook critic and curator. His work has been published by Edizioni Punctum and featured on LensWork, Lenscratch, photo-eye and Silvershotz and many notable on-line platforms. His work has recognized by Elizabeth Avedon and is in the collections of the Museo d’Arte Contemporanea di Roma, Reminders Photographic Stronghold and the Indie Photobook Library. Douglas Stockdale is the founder/editor of The PhotoBook and currently lives and works in Southern California.

So what do you all think?

Cheers!