BOOK - INTRODUCTION

FOTO PORTRAITS 1998

I was introduced to Curtis Knapp indirectly through a mutual friend in a hotel bar in LA.. Right off the bat he struck me as a bit forward, insecure and basically obnoxious. But, after encountering him three more times (in the same hotel bar) I realized it was all just a big front for a sensitive and talented fellow. Subsequently we have been friends ever since.

The first time I saw his work i.e. photographs, was his book of nude Japanese models entitled "Catwalk". This book is in my opinion, truly inspired! And I insisted on having a copy.

At that point Curtis told me of his plan for this particular book of portraits that he was in the process of finishing and would I be interested in doing a session. Since I thought the Nudie Japanese book was so cool, I said yes.

I went up to his studio and Curtis showed me some of the other entertainer/characters/people already featured in the exposed. Definitely some of the best portraits I've seen in some time.

Anyway we did the shooting, got drunk and had a great fucking time. Plus turned out some pretty cool photos.

At the end of the day. This book promises to be an entertaining feast for your senses.

What the portrait captures is {distance}. It is so within the senses of time and space, but it also means the {distance} which the photographer bears.

My re-encounter with Curtis Knapp came unexpectedly after three-years of distance. He's now very far from his country, and is shooting numerous cosmopolitan portraits here in Japan. These deeds themselves also represent his mind toward {distance}.

When a photographer and a sitter collaborate on a portrait the relationship between the two is so intimate, and yet there is this {distance}, so magical and enchanting, connected to neither time nor space.

His quality of creating this {ma} - what we sense in Japan as something like between-ness, is expressed through his works and is obvious in this group of portrayal photographs.

Long before the origin of known language, the visual image has been a universal communicative form. Man is still learning to communicate with each other, and we are at the dawn of breaking the barriers of inter- species communication. Curtis Knapp has chosen to bypass the spoken and written word as his form of communication and deal directly with the visual part of our brains. His tool- the Camera. Since the camera came into being as a device, capturing the human likeness has been one of it's major functions. Whether a known image or a totally unknown face, Curtis is laying down a visual biography for us. It is conceivable in the century to come that many of his photographs will remain. He has a conscious desire to leave his images to our generation, and the future, as a legacy to "mans' archive".

I know Curtis has been introduced to the computer. Already he plans use this tool to it's furthest extent. It will be most interesting to see what he comes up with in the electronic format. His mind is never shut down and he is absorbing everything and everyone he comes in contact with. This is what I define as "programming and Meta- programming in the human bio-computer."

Within the actual finished print Curtis is concentrating his main focus on the sitters likeness- the Portrait. He has an unquestionable and methodical approach to record the face of his sitters and to relate that image to the viewer of his photograph. There is often that direct {eye to eye} contact. This is much more evident in his images than with other photographs we see every day. One can feel who these people really are. The depth of tone he achieves in his prints is at times richer than most color photographs. This is clearly a result of his studies in painting and composition. It is a tie which will forever be linked with his works. As we enter the New Century and our world moves faster & faster, it is reassuring to see Curtis is an artist rooted in classical photography. We can't say how many of his sort will be left in the future? As I have said, "In the province of the mind there are no limits...." Curtis defines this principle through his art and photography. There can be no greater accomplishment.