My grandmother gave me my first camera when I was seven so I could document our move to Alaska from Minnesota.
In my final semester of engineering school, I had one elective left to fill. I took a photography class. After graduation, I built a darkroom in every house we lived in.
After a couple of years, I realized I didn’t want to be an engineer, I wanted to be a graphic designer. So I went back to school. While in design school, I took several photography courses: view cameras (Ansel Adams wanna-be), hand developing color slides, independent project. I loved it.
After this second graduation, I embarked on a career as a graphic designer. The entire time I was working, whether for an agency or as a freelancer, I was also making photographs.
In 2017, my wife landed a great job opportunity in Europe. We sold our house, sold our car, packed up all our belongings and moved. Now that we’re in Europe, currently in northern Poland, I’m pursuing my love of making photographs.
I photograph many different things: travel, birds, portraits, landscapes. But even though I photograph many different things, I’m really photographing moments.
I’m a collector of moments. Dramatic moments and quiet moments. Long moments and moments that pass in the blink of an eye. Those moments that frequently go unnoticed in our busy lives.
It’s said that a photo is worth a thousand words. While this may be true, I believe that a photograph is better, stronger, when “fortified with words” (h/t to Dorothea Lange). Words add context and context helps with understanding. Without the necessary context, a viewer can only engage a photograph by its formal attributes: color, composition, etc. Words help the viewer better enjoy a photograph.
To me, photos + words = book because a book is the perfect container for a series of photos and words.
For now, my books exist digitally, as pdfs, designed to be read on your computer or your tablet. You can find them on the Photos page and see more on Instagram.
Great! Drop me a note via my Contact page and I’ll get back to you promptly. Please note that depending on our travel schedule, it may take me a few days.