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!

In 1957, the Fort Wayne Pistons were in their final year in Fort Wayne before moving to Detroit. We were at a game and I saw the local newspaper photographers down on the floor with their 4x5 Speed Graphics. Having received a Brownie Holiday Flash camera that year, I mentioned that I too had a camera and wanted to do what they were doing!

Well, the next game came around and my dad made some arrangements, and at halftime I was able to take my place on the end of the court next to those photographers. My black and white pictures actually came out, the action frozen enough by the M2 flashbulbs.

Fast forward to the early 60’s. We are now living in Elkhart, Indiana, and when I graduated from Weston Elementary I was gifted a Brownie Super 27 camera, which I have to this day. That following winter I went to a basketball game at my school, West Side Junior High. I remembered that I had taken pictures at a basketball game once upon a time, so packed my camera in my coat pocket and off I went. I shot a few images and thought nothing more about it. The next day, however, I was called in to see Jim Newcomer, the Dean of Men, but also the yearbook advisor. Seems someone on the yearbook staff had seen me and told him, and he asked if I knew anything about photography? When I replied “no” he asked if I would like to learn? I said sure. He arranged to meet me later that day at the school darkroom, and when I saw a print emerge on the paper in the developer tray, well it was a magic moment! I was enthralled.

And so began my years of yearbook photography, with one of those pictures from that first night being included in that year’s publication, thereby technically becoming my first published photograph! I’d like to think I’m a little bit better at composition these days though.

Within days we had purchased a contact printer, 5X7” trays, and a safelight at Elkhart Camera Center, and I had a darkroom set up in one of the rooms in our basement. And I soon found myself wielding the 4X5 Speed Graphic that was the school camera, just like those newspaper photographers in Fort Wayne 6 years earlier.

The darkroom grew to accommodate a Durst enlarger, and bigger trays. Another room in the basement became a makeshift studio, where I taught myself lighting by looking at photos and figuring out where the lights had come from, first with hardware store clamp-on reflectors, and eventually Smith-Victor floodlights, with reflectors and umbrellas. I practiced on family and friends, and sometimes even myself. And a Yashica-Mat 2-1/4” camera replaced my Super 27.

I did a slide show for the local United Way, program photos for my mothers Tri-Kappa musical, and became the club photographer at Elcona Country Club, photographing dinners and dances, and their annual member-guest golf tournament. Money earned from those endeavors allowed me to upgrade to a Rolleiflex, which I also still own.

After West Side, I spent a year at La Lumiere Prep School in La Porte, Indiana, and then we moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana where I spent a year on the yearbook staff at Broadmoor High School. We then moved to Houston, where I finished my yearbook career at Westchester High School. I moved to Austin to attend The University of Texas, which I did off and on while I split time with my other passion, music. 

Having played bass in bands during high school (including a pretty well known one in Houston), I gravitated towards a fraternity brother who played guitar and sang.

He and I put together a group that played for 3 years, opening for the likes of ZZ Top and Wishbone Ash and playing the southwestern states. But when it broke up I stopped playing (until picking it up for fun 19 years later) and went back to the camera.

Moving back to Houston in 1976, I worked briefly for Gittings, the premiere portrait studio in the state. I then became a partner with another photographer who had left Gittings, and as we got his studio up and working I realized I was better suited to commercial work, and after 4 years together I hung out my shingle in 1981. So at this point it has been 43 years without a steady job!

My work for ad agencies, and especially design firms and corporations, during the 80’s and 90’s and into this century afforded me the opportunity to travel all over the country and the world, visiting 49 states and around 35 countries along the way.

I feel that my assignment work has informed my personal work. And that is reflected in the images on this site. Some were taken when I had a moment away from the commercial assignment I was on, while others come from my personal travels. They all have one thing in common, and that is that they reflect my way of seeing. I hope you enjoy seeing my images. Thanks for looking.