ARTIST STATEMENT

I’m a Pennsylvania-based photographer working in classic film and darkroom techniques. My focus is on texture and natural light in an eclectic range of evolving subjects: classic American landscapes, quirky farm animals, rural farmscapes, my Amish neighbors, ancient forests, old slave quarters in Louisiana, an 18th century cloister, sunny Greek islands, a deserted Mexican beach.

Although digital has many benefits I still prefer to use film cameras. I have three: a hand-built Phillips 8x16” ultra-large-format view camera, a 1940s era 4x5” large-format field view camera outfitted with modern lenses, and a medium-format Hasselblad 203FE.

I print my photographs in a traditional wet darkroom using archival methods and materials which produce vivid, long-lasting prints. Each photograph is archivally washed and dry-mounted onto museum-grade mat board for longevity.

I grew up on a farm in central Pennsylvania and moved to southern California after getting a degree in aerospace engineering. I spent the next 6 years squeezing in photography while on aerospace assignments in New Mexico & California but finally resigned to become a full-time photographer in 1992.

I later returned to Pennsylvania as my base. From here I photograph the still-flourishing rural life in my immediate area as well as traveling to work on other photographic projects.

I attend juried art shows throughout the country and my photographs have also been included in group exhibitions at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Museum of Natural History, the State Museum in Harrisburg, PA, the Robeson Gallery at Pennsylvania State University and at the Yosemite Museum Gallery in California.


Selected Exhibitions:

Pennsylvania State Museum, Art of the State, Harrisburg, PA, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010
Hoyt Institute of Fine Arts, Mid-Atlantic Juried Exhibition, New Castle, PA Summer 2007
'Images,' Robeson Gallery, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, Summer 2006, 2008
Yosemite Museum Gallery, Yosemite, California Fall 1998
Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Natural World Photographic Exhibit, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1994

Solo Exhibitions:
Solo Exhibition, Millersburg Art Association, Millersburg, PA 2006
Solo Exhibition, Lexington Art Gallery, Lexington, VA 1999

Awards and Honors:

Grand Prize, Natural World International Photographic Competition & Exhibit, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1994
Yosemite Renaissance XIII award and touring exhibition, Yosemite, California Fall 1998
'Best in Show - Fine Arts,' Bloomsbury Festival of the Arts, Bloomsbury, NJ 2001
People's Choice Award, Gallery 33, Harrisburg, PA 2002
Cadillac Purchase Award, Patriot-News ArtsFest, Harrisburg, PA, 2005
Jury's Choice Award, Art's Alive, Ocean City, Maryland, 2005, 2006
Best in show: photography, State Street Art Fair, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 2005
Art of the State' winners exhibition, State Museum, Harrisburg, PA, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010
Best in Show, Arts Alive, Ocean City, Maryland 2007, 2010
Semi-finalist, ‘Hasselblad Masters’ International Competition, Copenhagen, Denmark 2008

Selected Juried Art Shows:

Cherry Creek Art Festival, Denver, Colorado
Saint Louis Art Fair, Saint Louis, MO
Long's Park, Lancaster Pennsylvania
Main Street Fort Worth Arts Festival, Fort Worth, Texas
Atlanta Dogwood Festival, Atlanta, Georgia
Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, State College, Pennsylvania
Ann Arbor State Street Art Festival, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Art on the Square, Belleville, Illinois
57th Street Art Festival, Chicago, Illinois
Riverwalk Art Fair, Naperville, Illinois
Art on the Square, Madison, Wisconsin