I first fell in love with photography during a class trip in 9th or 10th grade. I borrowed my dad's camera, a Minolta X-700, for the day. Instead of photographing the museum exhibits or my friends or the city, I chose to photograph shadows of flowers cast onto the sidewalk. That day was one of the most memorable of my life to date. I realized then what I wanted to do with my life, I just had no idea how. My high school didn't have a photography program, so I made due as best I could. I eventually had the opportunity to spend a week in Philadelphia at a photography workshop for pre-college students. I'll never forget that first time in a darkroom, and watching a print magically appear in the developer. If I wasn't sure before, I definitely knew it then. No matter what, photography was going to be a part of my life. I was able to learn some technical aspects of the medium, and better control of my camera. I also discovered black and white film.

I developed a small portfolio, in the hopes of getting into art school to further my learning. I was accepted at my first choice of schools, Tyler School of Art. While not the best school for photography, it felt like the right fit for me. I packed up the X-700, now mine from my dad, and over the next few years, I studied the art and the craft of photography, and further developed my style. During that time I spent a year in Rome, Italy, where I burned through over a hundred rolls of film. I had my first solo exhibition there. While not a resounding success, it gave me more confidence in my work. Upon my return to the US, my work was featured in several group exhibitions. I expanded my knowledge of the medium as I began to experiment with alternative photographic processes and larger format photography. All of this culminated in my thesis exhibition in Elkins Park, PA. This exhibition was a mix of black and white compositions and a series of photographs that blurred the boundaries of photography, painting and printmaking, utilizing multiple layered photographic processes.

I continued to hone my vision of the world over the next 10 years, with several group exhibitions across the country, and eventually a solo exhibition in Lancaster, PA in 2012. Then 2013 came, and with it the darkest day in my life. A doctor took my wife, Tara, and I into a room, and told us with absolute certainty the child we were expecting would not survive. Suddenly, nothing else mattered. Photography didn’t matter. Art didn’t matter. Nothing mattered, except family.

Dark days eventually turned hopeful though. Our unborn son qualified for the surgery that would save his life. Our son, Owen, is here, and he turns six in August. He is my greatest teacher and my greatest inspiration. This is all for him, to show him you can see our world differently, and that you can look at what someone else might ignore, and find beauty.

This is my first exhibition of any work in almost 7 years. The work here is a mix of old and new.