Work in Progress

I have been working on a series of portraits for about the past 8 months. I am interested in people who have been vilified, and admired at different points in their lives, often for the same reasons. It began as a few portraits of people whom I admire. I was aware though that the people I was choosing, as much as I like them, are also controversial in that many people dislike them and some even hate them. This prompted me to look at those whom I like and dislike and those who have been considered heroes or villains depending upon the point of view of the historian.

This is a work in progress of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the man whose work as director of the Manhattan Project led directly to the creation of the atom bomb and later, the hydrogen bomb. It is based on a photo by Arnold Newman, but I hope to push it in a direction that is less photographic and give it more life.