When I turned fourteen, my mom revealed the contents of the sealed closet. It was a darkroom. It had been my Dad's darkroom, sealed in 1955 after he left. There was an enlarger and easel and trays and tongs. I just needed to buy fresh chemicals and I was set. My first roll of film was of Star Trek off the TV, using an old plastic roll film camera. It was onwards and upwards from there.

My early first step photos are here.

I was a photography major in college, and also a yearbook photographer, so here in the College section you will find class assignments, school events like homecoming football games and  more.

After college, I moved to Iowa City, a beautiful town on the Iowa River. Also the home of the University of Iowa. I was now fending for myself, working at the school copy centers or as a projectionist in the town's theaters. My photos had become sterile, mere exercises in composition. I was doing what I learned at art school but with no emotional energy behind the process.

I now find I like many of those sterile exercises in composition. You'll find them here.

New York City was overwhelming. It took me about a year to learn what to ignore so I could just relax a little. I worked at a Foto Rush 24 hr photo store on the upper west side, and then at My Own Color Labs, making c-print comps and Duratrans for art directors and assisting photographers with making their own prints in the rental darkrooms.