KIM WESTON

The darkroom is just the means to an end.

What I had to prove was that I had a dedication and a desire and a passion to do the work and everything else would fall in place because I have a vision that I want to portray and it did and I do it. I don't sell anything.

We all take from our artistic endeavors what we as individuals need, to make the process unique and fulfilling to ourselves.

A lot of my work comes from my life experiences.

Being a shy person, I always felt strange outside with my camera.

I don't know, the older I get, the more complicated I think I get, which is a hindrance.

I just love photographing. I don't do it for anyone else.

In front of the camera I look and I see visually what I've created.

I don't need the money I generate from photography to support myself.

I think all photographers fit their vision to their personality.

The gallery is generating work for the masses.

The great thing about this thing we call art is that it has no rules.

No matter how fast I could do it with the digital camera I don't think I would get the same thing out of it. The passion I have for formulating an idea stands alone. It is the important essence of what I do.

I photographed rocks and trees and tide pools and nudes and all that stuff for years and years. Until 20 years ago when I found that I could do it in the studio and never have to travel.

You work on an idea, your first interpretation is very raw and you work it and you work it and it gets polished and polished. It gets to a certain level and then it comes down off that peak.

As an artist you have to have a certain amount of arrogance.

Any nude is a something you setup in front of the camera.

I think the digital camera would record that information too fast for me.

Growing up, I didn't give my grandfather's photography a second thought. I wasn't involved in his work, except that I helped my dad print his negatives.

I'm not photographing the model in the classic sense; the model is playing a part in my photographs. It's more like theater. I always work with models I know, and I let them participate in deciding how to act their part.

I was always confident in my art and in myself as an artist.

My son does a little photography, but he's not involved the way I was.

My surprises come usually once I start rolling and photographing.

That's not to say that some day I won't go outside again, but I'm having a great time working on this process.

Galleries, and they're all the same, and rightly so, they sell work.