My Path to the Camera

My path as an artist was not direct. I trained first as a veterinarian and scientist. While studying at UC Davis, I had the privilege to meet Dr. Calvin Schwabe, a pioneer of the One Health concept, the idea that human, animal, and environmental health are not separate but are all interrelated. His perspectives on the broader relationships between humans and their environment stuck with me. Subsequent years in biomedical research in large organizations shaped a different understanding of the complexity of human systems that operate with human behavior at the center.

The camera became a serious part of my life during regular international travel, which led to partnerships with global development NGOs. I have worked closely with many of them to create purposeful storytelling in alignment with their program objectives. This work brought me inside communities in India, Uganda, Myanmar, Kenya, Guatemala, Ethiopia, among others. This unique access also allowed me to further my artistic practice and accumulate thousands of images. Only now am I beginning to really understand those that mean something deeper to me.

What Changed

As I pursued humanitarian photography, which provided strong ethical purpose, I organized my photographic work around the context that produced it: the countries, the organizations, and the specific development objectives. However, this did not immediately help me to understand what I was actually seeing.

While patience does not always come easily, I began to notice that when I was present and focused long enough, my images seemed more true in a different kind of way.

My artistic development has been shaped by the work I’ve done with various photographers, notably Nevada Wier, Sam Abell, and, more recently, George Nobechi. Each has influenced how I see and how I work, but even more importantly what I am recognizing in my own work.

The Work Ahead

I am currently reexamining my archive through a lens that I’m working with now, which is helpmg me to better understand how i have always seen.

New work is also underway with renewed purpose and clarity. I have upcoming travel to Bangladesh, Kenya, and Japan, all with a clearer goal of contributing to a body of work that honors moments of interiority within an indifferent world. 

Artist Statement

I often sit with an uneasy feeling, waiting for the pose to fade and the performance to end. Looking for that specific moment when what’s underneath becomes briefly visible. It’s that stillness that reveals something else even if you can’t quite reach it. We exist in the world that surrounds us and doesn’t notice.