Early Days I The Midwest

I’m originally a Midwestern boy, born in Indianapolis, and residing in Indiana until almost 17. My family lived in Fort Wayne during the 1950’s and my father, always in finance, banking and so forth, early on was the auditor at The Allen County Colosseum. While he and my mother would take in the shows that came through such as Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Bob Hope, and others, I got to see my cowboy heroes. That’s me in the left arm of Roy Rogers, with whom I also share a birthdate. I also have a photo with Gene Autry!

A Spark Ignited Courtside

In 1957, the Fort Wayne Pistons were playing their final season before moving to Detroit. At one of those games, I noticed the local newspaper photographers stationed on the court with their massive 4x5 Speed Graphics. I had just received a Brownie Holiday Flash camera that year, and I told my dad I wanted to do what they were doing.

Well, at the next game, my father made some arrangements. At halftime, I found myself standing at the end of the court next to those photographers. To my amazement, my black and white photos actually came out—action frozen just enough by those M2 flashbulbs. I was hooked.

The Decision That Changed My Life

Fast forward to the early ’60s. We’d moved to Elkhart, Indiana, and when I graduated from Weston Elementary, I was gifted a Brownie Super 27 camera—which I still have to this day. That winter, I went to a basketball game at West Side Junior High. I remembered shooting that Pistons game years earlier and slipped my Brownie into my coat pocket. I shot a few frames and thought nothing more of it.

The next day, I was called in to see Jim Newcomer, the Dean of Men and the yearbook advisor. Someone on the yearbook staff had seen me taking pictures. He asked if I knew anything about photography. I told him I didn’t. He asked if I’d like to learn. I said yes.

And Then the Magic Happened!

That afternoon, we met in the school’s darkroom. When I saw my first print emerge in the developer tray, it was pure magic. I was utterly enthralled.

From Darkroom Dreams to First Published Photograph

And so began my years of yearbook photography—one of my pictures from that very first basketball game made it into the yearbook, technically becoming my first published image. I’d like to think I’ve improved my composition skills since then.

Within days, my parents and I visited the Elkhart Camera Center to buy a contact printer, 5×7 trays, and a safelight. Soon after, I had a functioning darkroom in our basement. Before long, I was using the school’s 4×5 Speed Graphic—the very same type of camera I had seen in use by newspaper photographers six years earlier.

A Basement Studio, Early Portraits, and Learning by Light

The darkroom expanded to include a Durst enlarger and larger trays. Another room in the basement became my makeshift studio. I taught myself lighting by analyzing photographs—figuring out where the light must have come from—and practicing on family, friends, and sometimes even myself. I started with hardware-store clamp-on lights and later graduated to Smith-Victor floodlights with proper reflectors and umbrellas.

I soon upgraded from my Super 27 to a Yashica-Mat 2¼” twin-lens camera. That opened the door to actual paid work: a slide show for the United Way, program photos for my mom’s Tri-Kappa musical, and event coverage at Elcona Country Club. Dinners, dances, golf tournaments—you name it. The money from these gigs let me buy my first Rolleiflex, which I still own today.

School, Music, and Back to the Camera

After West Side Junior High, I spent a year at La Lumiere Prep School in La Porte, Indiana, before we moved to Baton Rouge. There, I joined the yearbook staff at Broadmoor High School. Not long after, we moved once more—this time to Houston—where I finished high school at Westchester.

I moved to Austin to attend the University of Texas, though I split my time between classes and my other great love: music. I’d played bass in bands during high school, including one fairly well-known group in Houston. At UT, a fraternity brother and I formed a band that lasted three years. We toured the Southwest, opened for acts like ZZ Top and Wishbone Ash, and played a lot of great gigs. When the band broke up, I put the bass down (until picking it up again nearly two decades later) and returned to my first love—photography.

Forty-Three Years Without a Steady Job

In 1976, I returned to Houston and briefly worked for Gittings, the state’s premiere portrait studio. Soon after, I partnered with another photographer who had also left Gittings. As we built his studio together, I realized I was more naturally suited for commercial work.

Out On My Own

In 1981, I opened my own studio. It’s now been 43 years without a steady job—and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

My commercial career brought me assignments from ad agencies, design firms, and major corporations across the country and around the globe. I’ve worked in 49 states and visited around 35 countries in the process.

This body of assignment work deeply informs my personal photography. Some of the images you see on this site were taken while traveling for clients, others during personal journeys. But all of them share one thing in common: they reflect my particular way of seeing.


Thank you for taking the time to look.