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Turkey Tail, by Vanaprastha Sciorra

Meet the artist: Curtis Joseph Combs

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I was born in 1979 in Dayton, Ohio and spent most of my formative years moving from one place to the next (Ohio, Kentucky, Louisiana, Tennessee, Indiana, Georgia, Ohio, Kentucky, Ohio, Kentucky, and for good measure Ohio again). I spent a lot of time taking in the scenery and my parents always embraced the calm of the forest, the bends of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, the majesty of the hills and mountains of Appalachia, the dank and green swamps of the bayou, and the idea that exposing oneself to the elements was not only an opportunity to experience life in a genuine and sincere way but also a chance to witness the cycles of life and ecosystems that sustain us.  

I have loved photography for as long as I can remember. My Grandfather’s Jim and Stanley were avid family documentarians and it has never ceased to amaze me how rapidly photography and the visual arts have become accessible and instantaneously sharable in the modern world. In their age as well as my childhood and infamous teenage years it was family tradition, especially during Thanksgiving and Christmas to head to whatever room in the house the photo albums were with my cousins and my Grandmother Herma Lee, flip through each page of every album and hear stories of our parents’ and grandparents’ childhoods. In order to even have these printed images most people would have to wait days for their film to be developed and prints to be made. If you took a bad photo you wouldn’t even know until the picture was already bought, paid for and in your hands. I have the luxury of taking digital photos that I can edit at the touch of a screen or the click of a mouse, and so I indulge in capturing those moments that inspire in me a sense of wonder. 

I have lived in New York since 2000 and have been married to my wife Karla for 22 years. We have raised our 3 children for the last 14 years in Hornell, New York. I am a 2013 graduate of Alfred State College Human Services Management program. I’ve always wanted to ask Bill Pullman for a big money Hollywood job but clam up and start sputtering nonsense on every occasion I’ve seen him. I am still enraptured by the hills and gorges that surround us and will document through film the beauty of the world around me for as long as I am able.

For artwork and or services contact via: karlacurt@yahoo.com, Facebook Curtis Joseph Combs or instagram curtis.combs.9

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