“I am seeking in life a self-actualized state where my thoughts and activities are consistent with my ideals. Being who I am meant to be and doing what I am meant to do. I have known since I was a kid that my purpose in life is to create pictures. The subjects of my photographs range from pristine natural landscapes to abstract close-ups of refuse. I make the photographs into straight prints and mixed media installations.

My images exploit the tension between chaos and order. In the complex real world, visual chaos is everywhere. Sometimes, within the photographic frame, order can be attained. Many of my photographs are searching for the calm amid the storm. Calm, peace and stability are common themes in my work.

Making art is also a way for me to experience life more fully and with more intensity. To feel connected and vital, to investigate things, to explore the potential for discovery around every corner. Photography, for me, is all about curiosity; practicing it has made me wonder, inquire and seek out. I discover photographs as much as I create them. Even when I am shooting to a plan, I respond to what the situation provides. The rush of this interchange between myself and the world around me is intensely satisfying.

My love of photography is not an emotional outlet; it’s an addiction to intellectual stimulation–my mind’s response to visual input and the possibilities that arise spontaneously. The pictures I choose to make are a product of my ‘internal workflow’: input, processing and output. Internal processing is what makes us each unique; I am fascinated with how the eye and brain work together in unpredictable ways when creating.

Working within the photographic frame has been more challenging and rewarding than I expected it would be when I was getting started. Now, even when I don’t have a camera with me, I constantly superimpose a rectangle around everything I look at. This alters and strengthens my connection with my reality. Photographic art is great freedom–choosing what to leave in and what to leave out. I believe with that freedom comes the responsibility to think about what’s being communicated with the work.

I’m generally not as interested in capturing a slice of time in my pictures as that I want to reveal a glimpse of eternity… of universal truths and undeniable constants. I am looking for answers. I want to understand the relationships that form my distinct place in this world and the nature of my role in the past, present and future. Through my art I have a stronger connection to things greater than I.

I’m very interested in photographic impressionism, minimalism and surrealism. My work has been influenced by classic photographers like Man Ray, yet more so by contemporaries including Tony Sweet, William Neill, John Paul Caponigro and Bryan F. Peterson. The philosophies of Galen Rowell and Freeman Patterson have had a profound impact on the way I view my art. Through study of the work of these visionaries, seeing through my eyes and seeing with my mind’s eye have become distinctly different experiences for me.

Art is a reflection of a person’s reality… with ‘filters’ overlaid. My work shows reality from my point of view; it’s colorized by my opinions, attitudes, experiences and beliefs. My art is also my voice. This is me; this is what I have to say. And a picture really does equal many words. My hope is that other people will understand what I’m saying with my work and find joy in the experience of seeing as I do.”

Environmental Statement

The pollution of the world’s oceans is a major problem with major consequences. In particular, plastic trash is killing off entire marine ecosystems. Eighty percent of the trash in oceans is plastic. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a huge floating mass of plastic debris in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that covers an area larger than the size of Texas. Plastic bags, bottles and six-pack rings cause the most problems; marine animals die when they ingest and/or get caught and tangled in plastic.

Humans have the responsibility and the ability to clean up after ourselves and not allow our waste to destroy other life on earth. We already have the technology for bio-degradable plastic that breaks down quickly with exposure to sunlight, air and water. We need to put systems into place to clean up plastic in the ocean and start using materials that don’t cause these enormous problems for the world’s ecosystems.

To that end, I support the following conservancy organizations:

• Greenpeace
• The Cousteau Society
• World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
• Ocean Conservancy
• MarineBio Conservation Society
• Ocean Alliance
• Ocean Defenders Alliance (ODA)
• Surfrider Foundation

Please join me in working to make a difference.