I am extremely fortunate to have been born and raised in one of the most beautiful states in the union. For a person who is inspired by nature's beauty, Oregon provides a seemingly endless supply of places and scenes to photograph. From the beautiful coastline, to the dense, green forests, to countless acres of farmland, to the rugged snow-capped mountains, to the awesome beauty of the Columbia Gorge, to the vast high-desert, Oregon has infused me with creative energy for many years. In the past five years or so, I’ve been able to travel to other parts of the country, and I am always fascinated with the native flowers and plant-life, as well as the unique geological structures and formations of each region. In addition to photography, I enjoy motorcycle riding, hiking, guitar playing, writing, (poetry) classical and jazz music, wine-tasting, and cooking. I have been married for 30-plus years to a wonderful, patient woman, Tami, who is, in a phrase, my soul-mate. We have one son, Jesse.
From the time I was twelve years old, I have been fascinated by the inherent power of the photograph to elicit a wide and diverse variety of emotional responses from its viewers. Unlike well-written prose, with its ability to consistently deliver specific ideas in a precise manner, photographs impact each of us differently, based upon an assortment of factors, such as our upbringing, our outlook on life, or our emotional state of being at the time we are looking at the photo, to name only a few. And so the content of a photograph can have different meanings to different people. Nevertheless, photographs reach across boundaries; of language, of race, of countries, and that is because ultimately, we all share the human experience. It is because of this phenomenon that photography can be a powerful method of communicating not only simple, but also complex emotions and ideas. Sometimes, photographs are able to stir within us certain emotions or impressions the likes of which mere words cannot begin to touch.
When I make a photograph, specific stimuli and emotions drive the creative process. When you, the viewer, look at the photograph, I consider it to be successful (at least on one level) if it stirs within you some of the same kinds of emotions which moved me to make it in the first place. On the other hand, I recognize that you have a unique perspective as you interpret the photo. You may like it (or hate it!) for reasons which are entirely different than mine. It is this concept which makes photography as a medium of expression both challenging, and appealing to me. The difficulty lies in helping the viewer see something from a different perspective, (mine) without using words. An emotional response of some kind is always forthcoming, but once the emotions have been sifted and sorted, if the viewer can begin to appreciate why I was moved to make a particular photograph, then we both discover that although we are very different, we are much the same as well.