David Fokos‘ interest in photography was awakened in 1971 when at the age of 11 he accompanied his parents on a visit to their homeland in Hungary.  There, armed with a Brownie camera, he photographed the patterns of old cobblestone streets and looming church spires.  They were simple, ordinary scenes devoid of human presence.

While attending Cornell University in the early 80′s, Fokos acquired his first large format camera, an old 5×7″.   Fokos later went larger to an 80 year old 8×10″ Korona View Camera which he still uses today.

Fokos has arrived at a style that he refers to as “minimalistic”, one that often concentrates on isolation of detail and strongly patterned geometry.  Now honed to perfection, his artistry displays the epic beauty of simple forms and enigmatic scenes, metaphors for how he views nature.

“I photograph alone in a natural setting and it is a spiritual experience for me,” he says.   “It took a long time before I could understand the essence of what makes me feel that way and then to convey it.  As one hopes, one’s art becomes a process of discovery and in turn becomes a part of what one creates.” -from Rosalind Smith’s piece in the August 2000 issue of B&W Magazine

“I think people react to the serenity in the photographs as a refuge from the chaos of our world, much like the serenity I experienced when taking the photograph.  We respond to what we want to see.”

Photographer David Fokos talks about his inspirations and process.

Artist Statement

Using long exposures, ranging from 20 seconds to 60 minutes, I have
worked with the camera’s unique ability to “average time” in order to
examine and understand the mechanisms of human perception and to
reconcile our differing subjective and objective views of the world.

I believe that our sense of experience is built up over time – a
composite of many short-term events. For example, if you meet someone
for the first time, your impression of that person is not a snapshot in
your mind of the first time you saw that person, but rather a portrait
you have assembled from many separate moments. Each time that person
exhibits a new facial expression or hand gesture, you add that to your
impression of who that person is. Your image of that person – how you
feel about that person — is formed over time, rather than upon a single
expression or gesture.

Likewise, I believe that our impression of the world is based upon our
total experience. For example, the ocean has always made me feel calm,
relaxed, and contented. If I were to take an instantaneous snapshot of
the ocean, the photo would include waves with jagged edges, salt spray,
and foam. This type of image does not make me feel calm – it does not
represent how the ocean makes me feel as I stare out over the water. What
I am responding to is the underlying, fundamental form of the ocean, its
vast expansiveness and the strong line of the horizon, both of which are
very stable, calming forms.

With this series of images I have used the camera as a scientific
instrument, the way a biologist might use a microscope or an astronomer a
telescope, to reveal what is felt but often unseen.