Above Aspen, 1986

I directed my first image in the summer before I turned 10. Later I was allowed to use my father’s camera and have never been far from a camera or darkroom since I was twelve, and have always used large format cameras.

I’m dyslexic and discerned the world as soft and elusive until I was 15 and put on my first pair of glasses. Looking at the world through a ground glass and under a dark cloth has always been a comforting and grounding experience.

I studied physics, music, and art for my first four years of college; then received separate degrees in architecture and print-making as well as secondary teaching credentials; in-between degrees I spent 4 years in the Navy, and afterwards, three semesters attending Art Center College of Design; then onto assisting commercial photographers. I taught high school art for two years and then spent 33 years, until retirement in 2011, making a living designing piping and fire protection systems for hospitals and for the high-tech industry, doing the occasional commercial or architectural photography assignment, and helping raise two sons. My days, more often than not, have ended late at night in my studio or darkroom.

Though my images may cover a time period approaching 70 years, later images are not dissimilar, in intent, from my earlier images; my approach to image making has been relatively the same - measured and thoughtful: I work in slow time…