Artist Bio
In my early teens, I began my photographic career working behind the photo counter at my father’s drug store in Ketchum, Idaho. My first cameras were a Kodak Super-8 movie camera and a Polaroid SX-70 instant camera. My subjects then, were my close friends showing off in everyday life, rock climbing the Idaho Peaks, getting upside down on skis in Sun Valley, Idaho and a well documented Frisbee toss off the Eiffel Tower, while touring Europe on bicycles.
My arrival into the realm of serious still photography happened quite accidentally as well. When I was 18, I took my brother’s 35mm Minolta camera as collateral on a loan so that a VW Bug could be bailed out of the body shop. The loan was never repaid and the camera never returned. I have been obsessed with fine art photography to this day.
As fate would have it, I found myself enrolled in the Art Department of Boise State University and in the capable and inspiring hands of Howard Huff – Artist/Photographer. I feel Howard’s influence on me was the pivotal point for my love of photography as an art form. After exhausting every credit available in photographic studies and abandoning my architectural major, I enrolled at Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California. Brooks was the boot camp of photography for me, honing my technical abilities with large format cameras and also exposing me to the many possibilities of lighting.
I believe that it is essential to remain ever curious, teachable, and open minded. To stay close to the heart of photography, I attended many workshops with contemporary masters like Jerry Uelsmann, Christopher Burkett, and Bruce Barnbaum in my early career. I will occasionally lead my own workshops when the timing works out. Great things always evolve from the exchange of ideas and the interaction with other photographers. I feel that there should be no secrets in photography and am always happy to share my approach and techniques.
The inspiration for my work is found in the infinite fabric of nature. Looking for compositions within our natural surroundings takes me into the prairies and back-country, always looking for the raw materials of light, season, and weather to work their magic. I like to let the photographic journey take me where it may, causing my vision and technique to continually evolve.
My prints are all produced archivally in small editions using the current state of the art materials and processes.
Please check out my recent coffee table book, Snake River Discovered, a 1200 mile photographic journey of the American West’s longest river through 4 states.
When you find yourself in the Sun Valley, Idaho area, call (208) 720-5238 for a studio visit or locations for viewing my original work.
Artist Statement
The motivation for my art is to discover visually, the natural essence of my subjects. By taking a split second from eternity and storing it intact, in a finished image, I attempt to express just how fleeting the world is, and for that matter our very existence.
My intention is to impart this feeling of natural splendor through blurred motion, use of bold and subtle color, nature’s design, ethereal weather, and sharp attention to detail. In a successful print the viewer senses a beautiful integration of light, color and composition.