It is hard for me to choose one that I can call my best or my favorite. I have more than 1100 photographs on my website and more than 1500 more I need to add that I have scanned and god knows how many on the 300+ rolls of film I have waiting to be edited and scanned.
That said, I am presenting this one because it was the first image that I made that I knew at the moment that I released the shutter that I had made a photograph that would be counted as one of my best no matter what else I ever did in my career.
For a year, I regularly drove past this abandoned farmhouse on Maysville Road on the northeastern edge of the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana. At the time, I lived near it and the road past it led to a shopping center where I bought groceries and did other shopping at the time.
One day I saw a bulldozer sitting in front of it. It was going to be torn down! I had never thought it looked very interesting before, but I figured if it was going to be demolished, i should try to photograph it. After photographing it, I noticed a door open, so I walked in and found the interior interesting.
I was out of film though and it was getting late, about 5pm and it was beginning to get darker outside, which meant little light inside. I rushed downtown to the camera store, calling them on my cell phone to beg them to stay open to sell me more film! This was on a saturday, so I HAD to get the inside photographed on Sunday, because the place was most likely going to be demolished on Monday. I got a bunch of Tmax 400, 120 size, and went back sunday afternoon to shoot the inside.
After photographing the living room, kitchen, and bathroom downstairs, I noticed a narrow stairway to the second floor. This was in a cold winter, ice covered the entire floor of the house, and the stairs were covered in ice too. There was no handrail. I walked up without my heavy kit to see if there was anything up there. The two bedrooms were not interesting, and I did not photograph them. As I was about to head back down the stairs, I noticed a narrow hallway with a low ceiling leading off of one of the bedrooms. It led to a walk in attic, to THE PICTURE. The roofing was mostly gone, the floor covered in snow, and that dress! I did not hang it there; in fact, I was afraid to step out onto the floor for fear of falling through it.
I went back down the icy stairs and grabbed my bag and tripod. I stood in the doorway in the little hall and setup my Mamiya 645 Super with the 45mm wide angle lens and I did something I have never done before or since. I shot the same identical photos on 3 separate rolls of film as triple insurance against ANY screwup of the developing and I processed those three rolls in separate tanks. I just KNEW that this photograph was one that I could not live without. It had to come out. The other photos from the house are good, but if they all got lost except the dress photo, it would not matter....if I ever become famous, that photograph of the dress will be one of my greatest works.