Artist's Statement

Photographer, Glen McClure
Artist's Statement

On June 29, 2002, while I was in Chincoteague, Virginia, photographing a portrait project I called A Random Portrait of Virginia, something really special happened that would launch a brand new series for me. A man named Alfredo Lima, who was working on a fishing trawler nearby, was taking a break and happened to walk down the street near our sidewalk portrait set-up. I was drawn immediately to Mr. Lima’s white rubber boots. I photographed him. And in that instant, the idea to photograph more watermen popped into my head.

Finding folks to help us locate watermen who would participate, how to get to each location, what days would work for the parties involved and logistics took a fair amount of my time. Luckily, many wonderful, knowledgeable and generous folks were willing to help guide me along the way, and together we found the best locations.

I decided that each portrait subject should be briefly interviewed so we could include some background information to be used as captions beside each hanging portrait. My inquisitive wife, Marshall Rouse McClure, agreed to help me by coming along and talking with our subjects, thereby gathering information to help identify our watermen. We both thought this could be a great adventure, and we were certainly right!

Regarding the actual pictures, I am what some would call a straight photographer. My goal is to make my photography be about the subject, not about me and my photographic technique. When successful, it is almost as if I was not even there.