The Introduction

We are Lucas and Kathie Cichon, professional photographers who had the pleasure to live and work among artists, in Taos, New Mexico. We learned that the provenance is part of the art experience. Summoning our minds to invoke “a place” where our favorite artwork was created, we typically have romantic visions of artists working in controlled chaos, wild-haired, indigo stained fingers- captivating studios smelling of turpentine, or amongst sweet-smelling pristine landscapes, perhaps the nightclubs of Paris. We get pleasure from the belief of the uniqueness of artists at work, in their workspaces. So, was our feeling before starting this project. Every artist has a story to tell and many can talk about their work for hours, so given the slightest opportunity to visit and photograph an artist at work added an new dimension to this series. Using a wide-angle lens and shooting in a panoramic format, Lucas may take up to three-dozen side-by-side photographs and paying special attention to the views out windows and into other rooms he digitally matches them on his computer to make a seamless black and white print. Applying color in a most subtle and elegant manner, Kathie traditionally hand-colors each to create an original, one-of-a-kind work of art. The fusion of the two processes create a mysterious timeless portrait of the artist at work.

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