There is something uniquely mesmerizing about the rows and rows of sugar cane fields you see when driving through rural Louisiana. Cane fields are a window into the past - and often the distant past. It's not hard to imagine a vast row of cane fields looking similar today to how they did 100 or even 200 years ago. They hold a strong grip on my fascination and have since I was a small child. I wanted the red chair to represent a sort of reverence for the field and the landscape that stands the test of time. The photograph is taken at night because just like the stalks in a cane field can seem to go on forever, the stars in the sky do the same thing. That juxtaposition appealed to me. Using two tripod-mounted spotlights for a fraction of a second, I was able to expose the chair without overexposing the sky. Paterna is the result.

Paterna is a limited edition photograph and part of a series called the Red Chair Project – something I’ve been working on for a while and been thinking about for even longer – how to create a deeper connection between a photograph and the viewer. The most difficult things to convey in a photograph are almost always scale and intimacy. Scale is difficult because a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional world can fall short in portraying the scale of the scene and more importantly, how big the scene is in relation to a human being. Intimacy is especially difficult with landscapes because while the scene may be beautiful, there’s often nothing in the photograph that the viewer can connect with. Using a simple object, a chair – something we all use – I’m attempting to create that depth of connection that may otherwise not be there.

That’s the concept behind the Red Chair Project – childhood memory reintroduced to my life as an adult and now an integral part of my photography. The backstory on the chair is a personal one. It’s a chair that was in my room as a young boy and only came back into my possession a few years ago. Instantly, the thought of incorporating it into my photography became something I began to think about. My hope is that something we all use – a simple chair – will give that extra layer of connection to this series of photographs.