My Story, So Far

My love affair with the medium began in an Abilene, Texas high school, and I earned a journalism degree (with a concentration in photojournalism) at the University of Texas at Austin in 1974. I had inspiring  instructors in a program with a strong documentary tradition that has  produced at least two Pulitizer Prize winners. My wife and I moved to El Paso in 1975, where I got a job in the public relations office at the University’s El Paso campus. 

Outside of work, I carried a 4x5 field camera into the deserts and mountains of the Southwest. I was having some success getting images into exhibits, and into a few collections and publications, but after our first child was born, I wasn’t able to sustain my level of effort in this large-format work. After a few months, out of boredom and desperation, I turned a smaller camera toward our new son, wanting to do something beyond snapshots. I worked on the resulting “Infant Series” over the next nine months. 

This work received a good response, resulting in solo shows over the next few years at the Salt Lake Art Center in Utah, Abilene Fine Arts Museum in Texas and the  Portland Community College Northview Gallery, and as part of group shows at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Palm Beach Junior College and the Northlight Southwest Exhibition at Arizona State University. Ultimately, I got a call from Time-Life Library of Photography and was asked to be part of the second edition of their book, Photographing Children.

Photography took a back seat when I moved to Portland, Oregon for a better job in that vibrant city. The allure and demands of my job as director of communications at Portland Community College, the lack of a dedicated darkroom space in our new house, and the loss of my network of friends and fellow image-makers, all conspired against making art. 

Now I’m rebuilding my creative life in the little town of Windsor, Colorado, working hard to make meaningful images, finding new friends and sharing the journey.