Artist Statement

Like many photographers, I always found boats to be an attractive shooting subject. Sleek, shiney, well designed and as a bonus offered up interesting reflections while moored in calm waters. What I preferred though were boats in various states of decay. Large ones! Old ships with their skeletal remains dry-docked, half-submerged on a beach were the holy grail. Then five or six years ago it all changed while my wife and I were camping next to Great Salt Lake in Utah. After 'working the lake' for a couple hours, I wandered over to a fenced-off, dry-docked boat compound full of just sailboats. I learned later fuel-powered craft of any kind were not allowed on the lake.

I shot several close-ups of the sailboats with some of them well past their prime and others in varying states of refurbishment. In reviewing the shoot at home a week later I realized this was pretty interesting looking stuff. It was the reward of 'seeing' past the obvious subject and digging deeper. The work displayed notes of abstract expressionism painting.

Traveling these days I still get all tingly and jiggy when I come across a dry dock yard. I'll go after anything (not just sailboats) including motor boats, navy and coast guard ships, tugs...even floating barges. I've also added commercial fish bins to the mix of late and find they offer similar scratchy, grungy, abstract details. Thank you Cy Twombly for this obsession ; )

— Mark Wegner

Mark Wegner is a photographer/painter living with his wife Carol in Sonoma County CA. To read and see more: visit markwegner.com