As an artist entering my third decade of photographic exploration, I see my work in a different light. My experience as a photojournalist has exposed me to many different styles of photographic creativity; and given me an appreciation for a variety creative approaches. And yet, with each new experience, my vision becomes not only based on a wider foundation, but also narrows in focus. This refinement feels unavoidable. The natural consequence of applied creativity. No matter the subject, I have come to believe in a single, basic tenet; light is everything.

Composition, exposure, depth of focus, film choice, printing skill… all of those components and a dozen other creative tools and techniques can only exist in an environment of light. Even Henri Cartier-Bresson’s Decisive Moment, a philosophy of image making I have revered for most of my career, seems less vital when compared to the absolute tyranny of the light. It is light in all its amazing and powerful forms that makes photography so wondrously possible.

It is that most imperative of photographic imperatives that has come to consume my creative life. Follow the light. The rosy light of sunset, the pure, golden light of a sunrise or the pastel glow of a misty afternoon; each manifestation of light has its own particular power and beauty. Seizing the light, capturing it and condensing it is the one key motivation for me. Sharing the experience of creation with my audience is the other reason I do what I do.

For me, the audience is an equal partner. Sharing my vision is an essential part of the creative equation. Without an audience, I would feel as if the entire process lacked purpose. Art for art’s sake might be enough for some, but for me, sharing my vision is what makes the creation worth it.

The final defining character of my work, deeply rooted in my life as a journalist, is my belief that the photograph is a captured moment of time. I believe strongly that these moments should not be altered or manipulated; but recorded and shown. My photographs are my way of sharing an experience, of communicating what I witnessed at that single, specific moment!