By Karen Nystedt
The Desert Leaf, March 2001, Tucson, Arizona

Photographer Stu Jenks is not interested in hanging "nightmares" on the walls. By his own admission, he did some "wild stuff" in art school -- spray painting body outlines on roads where fatal accidents had occurred, burying himself behind brick walls. Jenks has abandoned his exploration of death and destruction in favor of creating images that please his soul. "I want to put stuff on my wall that makes me feel better, makes me feel connected to something," say Jenks, who explains that he likes God, but "rarely understands what he's up to."

For his series, "Sacred Spaces," Jenks photographs traditionally sacred sites: churches, archaeological ruins, natural wonders, cemeteries, the Vietnam War Memorial, etc. He noticed that circles and spirals were common symbols at many of these locations. With a natural flair for the dramatic and not satisfied to simply "take" photographs, wanting to "make" photographs, Jenks began to recreate those symbols in places not traditionally identified as "sacred' but possessing a spiritual quality -- a canyon wall, beneath the boughs of a pine forest or on the desert floor. The result is his series "Spirals and Circles", which recognizes sacred spaces in ordinary places.

To draw out the sacred essence from these ordinary places, Jenks photographs under the cover of darkness using fire both as his light source and focal point. From circles, spirals or mazes outlined on the ground with sticks, rocks, pot shards or earth, Jenks spins a spiral of light floating in midair. "I am trying to make these [images] friendly," says Jenks from the Toole Shed darkroom where he works. "When you deal with fire and darkness, they can look pretty demonic or negative. I'm really trying not to do that."

The first question Jenks often fields about his work is: "How do you do that?" People are surprised to learn that the photographer, although invisible on the final print, is not only behind the lens but in front of the camera for each shot. There are no double exposures -- the entire shot is on one negative -- and there's no darkroom "trickery," Jenks assures the curious. "Occasionally, after I've told them how it's done, they have that look on their face [like] when you've told them how a magic trick is done," say Jenks. "Sometimes I think it's better that they don't know."

(For those of you who dream of looking up the magician's sleeve, you have permission to jump to the sidebar at the end of this article for Jenks' explanation. For those who, like Jenks, appreciate the mystery of life, skip the sidebar.)

Jenks uses a Rollei twin lens reflex camera for most of his shots. "A friend, Sterling, sold it to me for $40," Says Jenks. "It's almost as old as I am, no electronics -- all mechanical, sturdy, great lenses. Its photos are square and I like the duality of having the circles inside a square, but the square is a tough image to keep from becoming boring."

Born in Virginia, in 1954, but raised mostly in North Carolina, Jenks began art school as a student of ceramics and got his degree in studio art from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1979. He came to Tucson in the early '80's to visit family and stayed.

"I got a little lost for awhile," Jenks says, explaining at least a 10-year-hiatus from art during which he worked as a massage therapist, carpenter, waiter, substance abuse counselor and printer. "It took me awhile to get myself back, so to speak. In the early 90's I started doing night-time photography." Because he wanted to learn how to print his own images, Jenks quit his job and began studying photography at Pima Community College.

"I went through this period when I was younger of being that artist kind of person who is a royal pain in the ass," admits Jenks. "Twenty years ago I used to get really mad when people would project all over my work. Now, I enjoy when people bring their own experiences and thoughts into it."

Although Jenks has an image in mind when he set out to photograph, it's the process -- the time spent in the darkness -- that drive him. "Some people are always looking to the end and I look there too, " says Jenks, "but I've learned that even when you're going through droughts, you just have to keep doing it. Last year for about six months, I wasn't real happy with the work I was getting and was getting frustrated. I'm as insecure as anybody else, and I'm thinking, 'Have I used up my go juice? Am I done now?' But I remembered what I had been taught: Just keep doing it: making the spirals, taking the pictures, doing the work. Last fall I felt like I got my groove back."

Jenks says he's not done exploring spirals and circles yet and is experimenting with different types of light sources and a pinhole camera he recently acquired.

Although he still keeps his day job in counseling and guidance, Jenks' photography is enjoying increased exposure. He had exhibitions this past February, and will show in March at the Tucson Jewish Community Center and The Screening Room. His images have been chosen as cover art for CDS by musician Steve Roach, and a growing number of visitors are dropping into his website: StuJenks.com.

"I am really thankful to a lot of people in the art community," concludes Jenks, who shares the darkroom of Tucson photographer James Graham. "They have been extremely generous."

How Jenks Does It?

"It's light painting." says Stu Jenks about his recent work.

To create his floating spirals, Jenks draws or constructs a circular image on the ground or floor, sets the camera on the tripod, opens the shutter, moves over the circle and draws a spiral with a Zippo lighter. "The Zippo is best because it's a nice organic light," says Jenks who want the light to look like it's naturally occurring.

After he draws the spiral he steps out of the shot and times the exposure, waiting for the moonlight to fill in the partially exposed images illuminated by the flame. "If I just close the shutter after half a minute, all you'd see is the light," say Jenks. "A lot of my work is caught in 15 minutes, but sometimes it takes hours and hours."

Why don't we see Jenks in the image? " I don't show up in the shot because I'm never standing still very long," he explains. "I don't show up if I move. Sometimes I have to do a little dance because my feet will show up. I also need the light to obliterate my image."