more about me
Photography has been a great passion of mine since I was very young. In middle school, when most people my age were using disposable cameras or auto-loading point-and-shoot film cameras, I was learning how to use 35mm and medium format full manual photo systems, thanks to my parents' collection of old film cameras.
I'm extremely fortunate to have been surrounded by wonderfully creative people who helped nurture and mentor my abilities to make me the artist I am today. In addition to being a photographer, I work as an architectural and graphic designer in New York. More importantly, I’m the husband of a theatre teacher and performer and father to two beautiful children (and a cat). My family is everything to me, and the love I have for them drives all facets of my work.
what inspires me
nature
My first love in photography was – and still is – nature. It's a love I got from my father, as I used to review and absorb his collection of slides. When I was finally able enough to use his cameras, I would spend a great deal of time on family trips wanting to capture unique views of extraordinary places and things, be it a sweeping, dramatic landscape or the minute details of a beautiful flower on a city street.
architecture
My experiences in architecture have given me an appreciation for photographing interactions between nature and man. so how we impact our landscape means a lot to me. Some of my architectural work is celebratory, and some of it is critical. I'll leave it to you to decide which is which.
people / street
I became interested in photographing people during college, while taking a course taught by Costa Sakellariou, a renowned photojournalist. Among my closest friends is AP photographer John Minchillo. From them and many others, I developed a love for taking all kinds of portraits, be they candid street photos or posed acting headshots.
What's great about people is that they all have a story. Depending on the situation, you will or won't know those stories.
film
Today, I shoot primarily in digital, but I still endeavor for much of my photography to evoke the feeling of film, whether in post-processing of a RAW file or in nailing that coveted straight-out-of-camera JPEG. That being said, there's nothing like loading a roll of film and methodically taking one's time to find the right shot. I try to avoid the spray-and-pray mentality, and shooting film from time to time helps me stay grounded.