2011 - ongoing

"I want to interrogate the nervous system." Dr. Mark DeCoster says to me late one night in his office as we chat about his unique cancer research at the Institute for Micromanufacturing and Biomedical Engineering at Louisiana Tech University, where I was a fellow during 2010-2011. I was taken aback that this kind of dramatic statement was the norm amongst the researchers who are seeking ways of understanding and defeating cancer. Perhaps it was the drama of his words, or the many late nights amidst the hum of machines, but I began to see these researchers as modern Film Noir detectives that are tracking a villain who, like the mood of these movies, is characteristically cruel, ambivalent and strange. These photographs are all made in their labs, using the actual researchers while they perform their methodical tasks, albeit amplified a little bit through harsh light, limited color and dramatic compositions. What these detectives are doing is exciting, perhaps in a different way than a movie character, but the villain they are fighting is every bit as formidable and their imaginative efforts are worth our attention and appreciation.

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