There was a time when the pursuit of photography dealt with the pursuit of the self. The mid-nineteenth century school of photography know as Heliography sprung from the teachings of Minor White. Paul Caponigro, one of Minor White’s favorite student was it’s leader. A photograph was made not for what the thing in front of the camera was but for what else it was. Yes it was  all a little mystical and delved deeply into psychology and religion.

One favorite subject for these photographers was the ice that formed on windows on very cold days, just like today. This practice continued well into the 90’s and a little beyond. One of my favorite people when I worked at The American Museum Of Natural History was a student of Paul Caponigro (which is how I got to meet him).  She would show me silver gelatin prints of the gestalt like ice patterns she created and fill me with the ideas of White and Caponigro and the rest of the Heliography.

This morning as I returned from bringing my son to a very early high school swimming meet I noticed all of the frost on one of my living room windows – and proceeded to make photographs.