Dirk Yuricich

Artist Statement

Born and raised in Southern California, for the past 46 years I have traveled, studied, taught, and photographed in over thirty countries. My interest in cross- cultural studies was realized while attending university with a year of study abroad in Munich, Germany and Salzburg, Austria. After graduating from university, I lived in Tokyo, Japan where I worked as a translator and professor. Twelve years of being based in Tokyo supplied me with an ample stock of cross- cultural experiences as well as gave me extensive opportunities to travel. Upon return to the United States, I found venues to show and sell my self- taught sideline of photography which led me to pursue photography as a livelihood. Lake Tahoe has been my home for the past thirty plus years.

My photography covers a broad spectrum of styles including photojournalistic studies of other cultures and historical subjects. I also try to create artistic interpretations of landscapes and flora. My particular interest in photography is in finding the graphic design imagery that often lies hidden in nature and man-made objects.

Colors, textures, shapes, and the resonance of the passage of time all move me to shoot. I enjoy the challenge of interpreting and composing an image in a unique way --- a view of something till now unseen. I'm happiest when I'm totally surprised by something new: the 'rush' of the serendipitous discovery.

By evoking different styles of painting such as watercolor, pastel, oil, black ink watercolor, and wood block prints, I have tried to travel beyond the traditional boundary of photography as a simple tool of reproduction and documenting a scene. In this more painterly realm, I try to share an emotion, a feeling of texture and movement, a meditation on patterns in nature. My choice of composition, thematic emphasis, and technique sometimes seem to echo the world of paintings. Frequently, during exhibitions, my work is questioned and confused with being a painting.

I want to show how I personally see things in the world. It's all about communicating and sharing with others. We all walk by and see the same objects, but each of us sees a different angle, a different color, a different focus. We all have different experiences.