I'm a photographer based in La Jolla, California with a wide range of photographic interests including architecture, people, and nature. A photograph is a record of a scene at a specific point in time, but I strive to go beyond simply recording the scene, and try to interpret the scene. This process starts in the camera with the framing, focus, and exposure, and continues with the processing, whether chemical or digital, and is completed with the printing of the image. Much of my work is in black and white, or in the case of cyanotypes, blue and white. I think that I'm drawn to monochromatic images because in my career as a lighting designer, I use color as an intrinsic element of the design every day. By stripping away the color in my photographs, the composition is based on forms, light, and shadows.
Technique
The majority of my work is in alternative processes, most of which originated in the 19th century including Platinum, Palladium, and Cyanotype prints. I'm also quite partial to the Ziatype process which was invented in the late 20th century and uses Lithium Palladium Chloride as the metal in the process. All of these alternative processes require the mixing of chemistry, the coating of the paper with the chemistry, exposure of the negative using a UV lighting source, and the subsequent developing or washing of the print. It's a time consuming effort, but each print is hand crafted rather than the product of an inkjet printer or a commercial lab. Almost all of the images shown here are scans of actual prints that I've made with these processes.