I bought my first camera in 1983 to photograph the world I was writing about. Getting around a city via public transportation, you hear things you might not hear at home.
Mostly, not interesting. But every now and then, something heartfelt and original lands in the ear. Fresh as a newborn. Waiting to be jotted down.
But my career in photography got its real start through my day job as a writer. Working for a civil rights group in Washington, DC, I attended everything from cultural fairs to Senate hearings. I photographed it all.
And within six months, began appearing in newspapers and magazines. A year later, I left my writing job behind to pursue photography full time. Over the years, I’ve worked as a photojournalist, theater photographer, and educator. I did some corporate work and advertising as well. But my passion for more than 30 years now has been producing fine art gum bichromate photographic prints.
Photojournalism (1983-1992)
I traveled for nine years in Europe, North and West Africa, and the United States winning awards for my work. Photographs were published in a wide variety of magazines and newspapers throughout the world. Those included The Christian Science Monitor, Time Magazine, Los Angeles Times, American Theatre Review, American Theatre, Food and Wine Magazine, Africa Report and the Washington Monthly.
Theater Photography (1987-2018)
My first encounter with Manbites Dog Theater was in 1987. The company was about to produce their first play and I was covering the story for a regional news magazine. A year later I became company photographer and archivist. In 2012, I collaborated with Artistic Director Jeff Storer on a retrospective book celebrating the company’s 25th anniversary. The book is entitled Unleashed: 25 Years of Manbites Dog Theater. That book was published in February 2013. Manbites closed its doors in 2018 after 31 years of engaging, often challenging productions.
Fine Art Photography (1990-present)
I discovered the world of alternative printing processes by chance in the late 1980s . I was researching various ways that photographers had approached story-telling but in the process, discovered new ways of printing photographs. Hands-on printing processes like cyanotype, Van Dycke, albumen, wet-plate, platinum, and gum bichromate photography all caught my attention. But the printing method that continues to captivate my attention, time, and imagination is the gum bichromate process. I made my first print in 1990.
Educator
Throughout my adult life I’ve served as an educator, teaching everything from cyanotype workshops for 5-year-olds, to presenting lectures in museums and university classrooms. Topics including the prehistory of photography, photography as an art form. I also offer private workshops in alternative, and especially gum bichromate photography.