Capturing the World One Frame at a Time
I have been interested in photography since I was very young. I remember saving up “points” from Scholastic book sales in elementary school in order to get my first little 110 point and shoot camera, which was fluorescent orange. When I was 14 I was diagnosed with a rare degenerative disease affecting my joints and was told I would not be able to walk by the time I was 25. That's when I realized I needed to explore as much as I could while it was still relatively easy for me to do so. While I have surpassed the expiration date on my ability to walk, the disease still ravages my body and causes a lot of pain that I deal with on a daily basis, but I keep pushing through because the world is too stunningly beautiful to stop exploring because of pain.
From a 40-year-old Hasselblad 500c to various 35mm film cameras to Canon DSLRs, I pick the tools based on the look I want to achieve. I like completely controlling the look of my images, and so I also develop the film and process the images myself, as well as printing them myself. Choosing the right film and the right paper for each photo and subject is a lot of fun.
In my other life I am an astronomer and planetary scientist, which I think explains why I am drawn to photographing the world in black and white during the day and in colour at night: To me the universe comes alive at night, when you can see the moon and stars and Milky Way overhead.
