Many folks in the area know Ted Trobaugh, the musician; the Amherst resident has written music for ballets, films and stage productions, as well as several albums.
As a photographer? Perhaps not so much.
But, several years ago, as he was finishing up an album of electronica, called “Metropolitan Daydreams,” Trobaugh, 53, says he began to play around with Photoshop to create abstract images, using found photos. It was an experience that ultimately inspired him to take up photography.
“I figured, if I am going to work in photography, then I really should learn how to take my own photographs,” he said.
Hampshire Life: What is your creative process like?
Ted Trobaugh: My creative process is one of exploration. Whether with my music or my photography, while I start out with a general goal to create a work that conveys a particular mood, I rarely know what the result is going to be before I get there. The consequence of any artistic choice I make inspires the next choice to be made.
H.L.: Do you ever have “Eureka! moments?
T.T.: Rather than having a “Eureka!” or light-bulb moment, my process is one of finding out “what happens if I do this?”
H.L. How do you know you’re on the right track?
T.T.: This is an excellent question; I don’t really know how I know when I am on the right track. It’s more a matter of knowing when I am on the wrong track. I am usually pretty certain when things aren’t working.
H.L.: What do you do when you get stuck on a particular piece?
T.T.: I stop working on it and start working on another. Frequently, the process of working on a different piece inspires solutions for the first one, or even generates ideas for a new one. I am always working on many different projects at the same time. The thought I put into one work influences my thinking about the others.
H.L.: How do you know when the work is done?
T.T.: I can keep tweaking a work for far too long. I know a work is done when the changes I make get smaller and more insignificant, and I know that I have passed the point of diminishing returns. Then I say to myself, “I have been working on this too long; it’s time to wrap it up.”
H.L.: What did you do today that relates to your art?
T.T.: I am finishing up an album of music inspired by sounds from NASA. Several years ago, NASA posted on the web its archive of sounds that it had collected over the decades and invited artists to use them.
I am just about done with this project.
— Kathleen Mellen
Ted Trobaugh’s photography is on display through October at the Amherst Town Hall. For information about Trobaugh, his music and his art, visit www.dolcemusic.com.