Dragonfly 5, photo by Harold Davis. View this image larger.

Here’s another pair of dragonfly photograms!

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Dragonfly 4, photo by Harold Davis. View this image larger.

By popular request, here’s a predominantly green version of the third dragonfly photogram.

Related images: Dragonfly; Dragonfly Variation; The Third Dragonfly.

Mint Leaves, photo by Harold Davis. View this image larger.

Mint grows wild in our garden, particularly at the edges of the few grassy areas. I photographed this sprig of mint to emphasize the patterns in the leaves, and for transparency, then added color in Photoshop.

Coleoptera 2, photo by Harold Davis. View this image larger.

This coleoptera (beetle) looks like stained glass to me, and is definitely more abstract than the previous coleoptera in this series (which was kind of a pop art affair).

Obviously, when you look at images like those in this series (which I am doing as part of a commissioned project) you are looking at a hybrid between photography and digital painting.

The extent to which my training lies more towards painting than photography was brought home to me in my answer to a question recently from a photography student:

Q: I now have to do an oral presentation on a photographer for one of my classes and I chose to do it on you. I pretty much have all the information I need from your blog and interview but do need to know what education in photography you have such as degrees or years completed at school. Also what years were you a professional photographer in New York? Are there any photos you could send me or I could find online of your work in New York? I only need maybe one or two shots from your New York stuff. Any help you give me would be greatly appreciated.

A: I have relatively little formal education in photography, although I did take a course in photography with Neil Rappaport at Bennington College. I also studied photography privately with Lilo Raymond.

I studied painting (also at Bennington) with Pat Adams and Philip Wofford, and at the Art Students League with teachers including Bruce Dorfman and William Pachner.

For what it’s worth, I have a degree from New York University in Computer Science and Math, and a law degree from Rutgers.

I worked out of a studio at 18th Street and Broadway in New York from 1978 through about 1990. Some of my photos of the World Trade Towers from the years I worked in NYC can be found here, here, here, and here.

All goes to show, painting, photography, or whatever: all knowledge and training is worth having in the end. On the other hand, things may be simpler than all that. As the 17th century Japanese poet Basho put it, “The first task for each artist…is to become one with nature.”

Dragonfly 3, photo by Harold Davis. View this image larger.

This dragonfly seems to be reclining in mid-air, arms clasped behind its head!

Related stories: Dragonfly, Dragonfly Variation.

Dragonfly 2, photo by Harold Davis. View this image larger.

This is a variation of the previous dragonfly image.