<body> <h1>Portraits | Editorial, Travel, Commercial | Fine Art | New York Photographer | Murcko</h1> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="8"> <tr> <td align="left" class="links"><a href="/index.html"><span class="links"><a href="/index.html" target="_top"><font color="#d0d0d0">Home</font></a></span> <span class="links"> <a href="/portfolio.html" target="_top"><font color="#d0d0d0">Portfolio</font></a> </span> <span class="links"><a href="/content.html?page=1" target="_top"><font color="#d0d0d0">About Murcko</font></a></span> <span class="links"><a href="/content.html?page=3" target="_top"><font color="#e8e8e8"><b>Artist Statements</b></font></a></span> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left"> </td> </tr> </table> <h1>Artist Statements | Portraits | Editorial, Travel, Commercial | Fine Art | New York Photographer | Murcko</h1></span><br> <div> <p><span style="font-size: larger;"><u><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Ancient Thailand - Sukhothai</span></u></span></p> <p><img width="100" height="150" align="left" alt="" src="/users/DavidMurcko3279/Image/temple_night1500.jpg" /><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: larger;">Sukhothai, founded in 1238 A.D., is the first kingdom of Thailand. It contains some of the most beautiful Buddhist art in the world. These 750 year-old temples and statues are much more than ancient religious relics - they reflect the unique character of all Thai people.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: larger;">During the 1990's, I spent 7 life-changing years living in Thailand. My job gave me the opportunity to learn about Thai people and their history. I gained a deep respect for their love of Buddhism and admired the artistry and craftsmanship that went into their temples and statues. The goal of this project is to celebrate the beauty of Thai Buddhist art and show my deep gratitude to the Thai people for sharing their culture and kindness with me.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: larger;">After experimenting with several different printing processes, I decided to produce hand-made Cyanotypes ("blue prints"). The cyanotype was discovered by Sir John Herschel in 1842 and is one of the earliest photographic printing processes. Cyanotype is a UV light sensitive printing process that requires a negative the same size as the final image size.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: larger;">I was particularly inspired by the Cyanotype work of John Dugdale and Kenro Izo - two of my favorite photographers. The color blue has rich symbolic meaning. Blue is associated with serenity, purity, happiness and mystery. Qualities that compliment the imagery and reflect the personality of Thailand and Buddhism.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: larger;">There are also several prints in the series that utilze a new and exciting printing technique that combines traditional Cyanotype printing with Color Digital imaging. This new process, called "Colorized Cyanotype" printing, takes a digitally produced color print (without black) through the traditional Cyanotype process. The intense blue color from the Cyanotype chemistry replaces the black creating interesting combinations of colors and exquisite tonal depth.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><u><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: larger;">US Civil War - Weekend Warriors</span></span></u></p> <p><img width="101" height="150" align="left" src="/users/DavidMurcko3279/Image/cigar_150.jpg" alt="" /><span style="font-size: larger;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">On almost any given weekend, somewhere in America, you're likely to find thousands of people engaged in a great struggle. A struggle to perserve US history. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: larger;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">There's a growing army of over 250,000 modern day combatants re-enacting epic battles from the US Civil War. These "re-enactors" come from all walks of life. Their efforts are educating a new generation of Americans and honoring the 970,227 souls who were killed or wounded in the Great War between the States. As Abraham Lincoln said at Gettysburg, "...we here highly resolve that those dead shall not have died in vain."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: larger;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Photography played a significant role in the US Civil War. Matthew Brady's powerful portraits and battlefield scenes showed for the first time the personalities and brutality of the war</span></span>. <span style="font-size: larger;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Also soldiers could send inexpensive, business-card size pictures, called "carte de viste", home to loved ones.<br /> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: larger;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">The main goal for this project were to reveal the personalities, pride and passion of the Civil War re-enactors. There was a conscious effort to moderize the traditional Civil War portrait by getting closer to the subject and celebrating the face. A new alternative photograpic process was used for this series. The process combines digital capture, pigmented ink prints and digital negatives with traditional platinum and palladium metals and printing. </span></span></p><div> David Murcko is a New York based photographer specializing in fine art, portraiture, travel photography and alternative process printing. </body>