Being born in New York City, I guess I’m what would commonly be referred to as a city person. Still, I never miss the opportunity to take excursions into the natural world, which I find infinitely more nourishing than its concrete counterpart.
During my years studying photography at Cooper Union – also in New York City, I discovered that the quiet of the natural world was perhaps the component that most inspired me. I came to understand that some images are more quiet, more contemplative than others, and these images, it seemed, were my most successful. To my eye, the quieter images tended to be the most impactful.
To put a finer point on it, I find the ‘obvious’ images are the ones I have the least interest in. I’m never flattered to hear someone say, when referring to one of my images, “That looks like a postcard.” I’ve been known to turn my back on the Grand Canyon to photograph a small rock near a lonely tree in the opposite direction.
Having worked in the fields of Architecture and Interior Design for many years—and still do—I find that being laser-focused on the designed world, as these disciplines demand, heightens my love of the undesigned world when I’m fortunate enough to find myself within it.
For me, photography is the challenge to capture a feeling as well as an image. It’s an opportunity to show the viewer something beautiful that conveys the peace that accompanies the quiet.