Biography
Even before I was sneaking into my high school photography class to use the darkroom with a friend back in 1971, I have had a love of photography. I have been a black and white photographer for over 50 years and it is still going strong. Initially I focused on the photojournalistic side of photography while in school. I was influenced by the essays in Life magazine and especially by the great W. Eugene Smith.
But then my photographic career took an unexpected turn when I was exposed to the works of Edward and Brett Weston and later Ansel Adams. I did not really comprehend the possibilities extant in photography. In 1981 I enrolled in an Owens Valley Workshop, taught by Bruce Barnbaum, Ray McSaveney, and John Sexton. From that moment on my vision and direction were forever changed by the endless possibilities the fine art image reveals.
I graduated in 1985 with a BA in photography and subsequently enlisted in the 19th Special Forces to help pay off my student loans. I was a Combat Photographer and was able to continue to hone my photographic abilities. In 2002 I was deployed to Afghanistan and in 2006 to Iraq and the images I recorded from those deployments resulted in two books of my impressions and images there, Faces of Afghanistan and By the Tigris.
My personal journey in photography has led me to exhibiting in numerous juried shows, exhibiting in galleries locally and nationally, multiple images featured in publications, and having my works collected both privately and publicly.
My passion has been and continues to be the black and white photographic image. I am drawn to the intimate and often overlooked, the natural and man-made, the unexpected and ephemeral, things in efflorescence or decay, and truly find joy in discovering the extraordinary in ordinary life.
The focus of my work is the natural, intimate landscape, still life botanical, the decaying elegance of dying or dead flora, and the chaos and order of the urban landscape. My vision is driven by an affinity for simplicity, of discovered beauty that reflects a sense of transience that is imperfect, impermanent, or incomplete. This has resulted in a vision that approaches minimalism, using natural light as the sole light source for my images.
My enthusiasm for the Black & White fine art image endures whether it’s an Archival Pigment print or a Silver Gelatin print.
Artist Statement
“My true program is summed up in one word: life. I expect to photograph anything suggested by that word which appeals to me.”
– Edward Weston
My passion has been the black and white photographic image, using both film and digital capture. I am drawn to the intimate and often overlooked, the natural and man-made, the decaying elegance of dying or dead flora, and the chaos and order of the urban landscape, the unexpected and ephemeral, and truly find joy in discovering the extraordinary in ordinary life.
My vision is driven by an affinity for simplicity, of discovered beauty that is imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. This has resulted in a vision that approaches minimalism and expresses an aesthetic sense of simple, subtle and unobtrusive beauty. I have found images do not have to be literal or immediately recognizable to convey my feelings and emotions. Tranquility and form are evident in my images and I feel the black and white medium best depicts my perception of life.