There are moments in an artist’s career when the work speaks for itself, and sometimes, when it resonates with others, they connect with an image. I’m humbled and delighted to share that two of my portraits, Fall Pumpkinhead and Twins in the Alley, have been selected for publication in the Fall 2025 issue of Shots Magazine (#168), Portrait issue.

For those unfamiliar, Shots is an internationally recognized, independent photography journal that has championed fine art photography and thoughtful photographic voices for decades. Having my images included in its pages is more than just an honor; it’s an affirmation that the slow, deliberate, and deeply human approach to image making still has a place in today’s instant digital image culture.

And this time, the recognition comes with a special spotlight: Fall Pumpkinhead appears on the back cover of the issue. The bold autumn figure mask created by artist Thomas Leipold, closing out the magazine, reminds readers of how playful, eerie, and thought-provoking portraiture can be when art and photography meet.

Both images were created using pieces of photographic history, a Graflex 4x5 camera mounted with a Kodak Aero Ektar lens. It’s not just a camera setup; it’s a machine that breathes with the weight of time, precision, and story.

Fall Pumpkinhead: Whimsy in Autumn Light

There’s something about autumn that invites playfulness, nostalgia, and a dash of the surreal. Fall Pumpkinhead was born from that intersection of season and imagination, a portrait that transforms the simple act of wearing a pumpkin mask into a meditation on identity, anonymity, and humor.

The pumpkinhead mask, one of many masks sculpted by Leipold, elevates the idea of a seasonal disguise into something both whimsical and haunting. Worn against the crisp backdrop of fall, the piece becomes more than a costume; it’s a visual metaphor for transformation and mystery.

Photographed on 4x5 sheet film through this magical lens, the image carries a richness of tone and softness of depth that only large-format imagery can offer. The pumpkin-headed figure is playful, yes, but also quietly eerie, reminding us of how the everyday can become extraordinary when filtered through both artistry and intention.

It’s humbling to see this image take its place on the back cover of the Fall 2025 issue, an autumn portrait that both conceals and reveals, playing in the space where contradiction becomes its own kind of truth.

Twins in the Alley, 2022 ; Brigantine Beach, NJ

Twins in the Alley: Echoes of Connection

If Fall Pumpkinhead leans whimsical, Twins in the Alley walks a quieter, more contemplative line. Captured in the soft embrace of a beach town alley, the portrait isolates a moment of mirrored presence; two figures connected by resemblance and framed by texture.

The Aero Ektar renders the scene with its signature shallow depth of field by softening the background into a cinematic blur that leaves the subjects suspended, almost floating. The twins, similar yet distinct, remind us of the duality in all portraits: how one image can hold both sameness and difference, unity and individuality.

The alley, a weathered characteristic of a beach town. The salt air, sun-faded surfaces, and sense of transience infuse the frame with atmosphere. It’s a stage for timeless themes of reflection, connection, and identity.

The Camera That Made It Possible: Graflex 4x5 + Kodak Aero Ektar Lens

Let’s talk about the tool behind these images. Because as much as the subject and the artist matter, the instrument shapes the voice of the work.

The Graflex 4x5 is itself a classic large-format press camera that once defined professional image-making. Heavy, mechanical, and deliberate, it requires the photographer to slow down. To think. To compose with intention. There’s no machine-gun burst mode here, just the soft click of a shutter that demands patience and precision.

But it’s the Kodak Aero Ektar 178mm f/2.5 lens mounted on that Graflex that gives these portraits their unique signature. Originally designed in the 1940s for aerial reconnaissance during World War II, the Aero Ektar was never meant for portraits. It was built to photograph the world from thousands of feet in the air, capturing landscapes, cities, and strategic sites from the belly of reconnaissance aircraft.

Here’s the fascinating part: the lens was constructed with a rare-earth glass element containing thorium, giving it a slightly yellowed tint (and a mild radioactivity that has become legend among lens collectors). Its wide-open aperture of f/2.5 was revolutionary for its time, allowing crisp aerial images even in low light.

When adapted to large-format cameras after the war, however, photographers discovered something magical: that same wide-open aperture created a surreal, shallow depth of field and buttery bokeh unlike anything else in the analog world. It turned the Aero Ektar into a cult lens, revered by portrait photographers for its cinematic glow and dreamlike rendering.

Using it feels like borrowing a voice from history, channeling both the precision of wartime optics and the artistry of postwar experimentation.

Why It Matters

In an age when cameras fit in our pockets and AI can conjure portraits from pixels, why lean on a seventy-year-old camera system that weighs as much as a small dog and requires film holders, chemistry, and patience?

Because photography isn’t just about the image, it’s about the experience, the process, and the connection.

When I create with the Graflex and Aero Ektar, I’m stepping into a dialogue with the past. Every sheet of film is a promise: one frame, one chance. The weight of that commitment sharpens the eye and deepens the connection with the subject. The sitter feels it, too. They slow down. They breathe differently. They know this isn’t a quick snap; it’s an act of creation.

That’s why I believe Fall Pumpkinhead and Twins in the Alley resonate. Not just because of their subjects, but because of the way they were created, crafted in light, chemistry, and patience.

The Role of Portraiture

The Fall 2025 Portrait Issue of Shots Magazine is the perfect home for these images. Portraiture is the art of seeing, and being seen. It’s about distilling identity, context, and emotion into a single frame. Whether playful (like a pumpkin-headed figure) or contemplative (like twins in a beach town alley), portraits hold up a mirror to the human experience.

As a photographer, my role is not just to record faces, but to reveal something beyond the surface, connection, humor, fragility, or strength. And sometimes, the most unexpected tools, the Aero Ektar lens, a long-forgotten seaside alley, a hand-crafted mask, become the pathways to those revelations.

Closing Thoughts

Both images remind me that photography is less about perfection and more about presence, the willingness to notice, to connect, and to create something timeless with the tools at hand.

The Graflex and Aero Ektar may have roots in another era, but their voice is very much alive today. And as these images find their way into the hands of readers around the world, I hope they remind others of the beauty in slowing down, looking closer, and finding meaning in the in-between spaces.

Whether it’s a pumpkin-headed figure in autumn light or two twins framed by the weathered character of a beach town, portraits will always speak, and if we’re lucky, they’ll keep speaking long after the shutter closes.

Sit for a Portrait, Create your Story

If you’d like to experience the artistic magic of timeless portraiture, let’s create something together. My West Chester studio (and that beautiful old Graflex) is always ready. Set up a call below to start the conversation.

Schedule a 15-minute here: https://link.disruptormarketing.io/widget/booking/8muZWTh4V4qrD5mrKu02

Two Portraits, One Vision: Fall Pumpkinhead and Twins in the Alley Published in Shots Magazine #168