My Story

When I began walking myself to school at six or seven, I discovered that wandering aimlessly through town after school gave me the privacy, solitude, and peace I needed to escape the constant onslaught of the “education”—at home and at school—that I was beginning to experience, or rather “suffer”, as I believe we all do as children. The empty streets I frequented seemed to come alive and I was exposed to an energy that felt welcoming, nonjudgmental, and full of mystery. It has taken me almost my entire life to understand why I have always found peace while walking the quieter streets. Twenty-plus years later, photography entered my life.

I began taking pictures in the 1980s, exploring the southwestern neighborhoods of Manhattan with my 4 × 5 Toyo field camera, mounted on a tripod and carried over my tolerant right shoulder. I favored the afternoon and early evening, when the sunlight was warmer. I felt welcome and at peace, just as I had as a child, in intimate communion with the after-hours solitude of what was then, and is still known as the Meatpacking District and the adjacent neighborhoods of SoHo, Tribeca, and Greenwich Village. I could sense the presence of other souls drawn to these places in the graffiti they left behind. Perhaps they, too, had found their own peace there.

Recent Work

After twenty years of not even owning a camera, I began taking pictures again, casually and with my iPhone 3. At first, I simply wanted to document and share with friends and family back East the breathtaking landscapes I encountered while crisscrossing the beautiful countryside of Washington State. Out of convenience, I began playfully photographing as I went, without stopping, through my windshield and side windows—it was either that or pull over every fifty yards. Eventually, this became what I call, perhaps not all that originally, my “Drive-By” Series.

Since relocating to San Francisco a few years ago, I’ve rediscovered my long-standing love of the street. I frequently find myself engaged in what I think of as “taking visual notes” with my camera. My photography no longer needs to aspire to be art. I no longer need to claim to be an “artist,” or even a “photographer.” I simply love walking the streets of San Francisco as much as I once loved walking through Manhattan—or, many years earlier, as a child—taking visual notes along the way.

My recent and growing obsession with landscape horticulture has revealed an unexpected and striking parallel to my photography. I’m beginning to see that there is an architectural geometry—somewhat hidden—in trees and plants. This has led to another recent series, “Elusive Plant Geometry.”

Early Work

I began my photographic journey by taking courses at the International Center of Photography in New York City. Shortly afterward, I purchased my 4 × 5 Toyo field camera and began photographing the streets of Manhattan, continuing until 1990. A small selection of these early images can be found in the Archives.

During those years, I supported myself as a C-print technician, working for several photo labs in New York City, including Frank Tartaro Photo Lab, which may have been among the last labs to produce dye transfers commercially. For the very few exhibitions I was fortunate enough to be included in, I completely produced the work myself, handling everything from printing to matting and framing.

Exhibitions:

1990 - OK Harris Gallery, NYC

1990 - 92nd St Y, NYC (group show)

1988 - MIRA Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden

1986 - International Center of Photography's Faculty Gallery, NYC

Collections:

The New York Public Library’s Photography Collection includes two of my Manhattan images.