Photography

I have worked as a commercial photographer since 1984 when I began as an assistant for Peter Donaldson, John Martin and Don Myer at the in-house studios of Emporium-Capwell, a San Francisco Bay Area department store chain. Within 6 months I had become the studio manager, and in the spring of 1985 was promoted to photographer. I photographed "hard-line" - everything but clothing. I did a lot of tabletop - dishes, small appliances, picture frames, towels - and even more large set photography - furniture, beds, rooms. The vast majority of what I shot was in the studio using either strobe or hot lights, in color on 4 X 5 film. Occaisionally I would go on location to a mansion or resort to shoot a special catalogue.

While I was working in-house for Emporium I also picked up freelance work. I shot for Macy's (don't tell anyone), Electronic Musician, Windham Hill Records, fashion for knitwear designer Jerry Olson, band promo photographs, headshots for models and actors, and even a wedding (never again).

In 1988 I left Emporium-Capwell to go back to school. I continued to freelance while I was at San Francisco State University, and the San Francisco Art Institute, where I earned an MFA in photography in 1993. In 1991 at SFAI I began teaching, which meant that I spent less and less time working commercially. During my time in school I worked as a contract photographer for Peter Donaldson and Richard Rethemeyer, shooting catalogues for Mervyns, Smith & Hawken and Floral Gift Express. I also went back to assisting, working with Phillip Kaake, Robert Perry and James Garrahan on projects for B of A, Gap, Levi's, Bullocks, etc.

From 1994 to 1996 I lived in Boise, Idaho. I took the opportunity in Boise to work exclusively on my artwork, primarily landscape and portraiture. I produced an enormous amount of artwork which I am still slowly digesting.

In 1996 I returned to civilization, moving to Los Angeles. I began photographing commercially again, doing editorial portraiture, as well continuing to photograph the landscape and make personal portraits.

In 2002 I began a new landscape project using digital cameras to shoot section by section and compositing the sections together as large images in Photoshop.

Web Design

In 1997 I began to work on web design, seeing the internet as the future of image making.

In 1998 I founded Gumbo Design with my partner Caitlin Weil. We produced sites for music production houses, for retail outlets, for a network security company, for online hiring companies, for non-profits, and primarily for law firms. The largest sites are for Horvitz and Levy, and Hennigan, Bennett & Dorman.

I am now working part-time as a web-site designer, part-time as a photographer, teaching half-time at Woodbury University, and making art.

 

Education

San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA

MFA 1993, Photography

Studied with Linda Connor, Hank Wessel, Jack Fulton, Reagan

Louie, Pirkle Jones, Ingeborg Gerdes, Susan Schwartzenberg, Barbara DeGenevieve, Donna Lantz, Robert Dawson, Sandra Phillips, Andy Grundberg, Rebecca Solnit

 

San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA

Graduate work in Photography and Philosophy 1988-90

Studied with Jack Welpott, Meridel Rubenstein, Lewis Desoto,

Richard Lichtman, Sandra Luft, James Royse, Anita Silvers

 

University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS

BA 1984 Art History

Studied with Earl Iverson, Pok Chi Lau, Linda Stone-Ferrier,

Tom Southall