Artist Statement

I have been a reporter and editor for years, and as a result my photography projects are often deeply researched. But my photographs are very different from traditional photojournalism. I prefer photographing things that are not exceptionally newsworthy, but instead may be exceptionally magical because of the sense of wonder or otherworldliness or drama created by extraordinary light or by different ways of seeing, such as “Girl at Beach.” I look for scenes that capture the ephemerality of life or help us understand the many complex layers to our everyday lives, such as the series on “The Sanctuary of Home in Feb. 2021.”

I like to take photos of things not present, implied narratives, scenes that hint at missing characters who perhaps just left the scene or are about to enter, like “Laundry Day.” I like the quiet, the sense of anticipation, trying to figure out what will happen next. I find similar mystery in the solitary stranger, such as the man in “Disabled Veterans Memorial” or the woman in “Waiting.”

In my most recent project, I spent four years working with photographer Catiana Garcia Kilroy to tell the story of the 120,000 innocent Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War 2. We visited the 10 camps where they were imprisoned. I was overwhelmed by the feelings of loneliness and abandonment that permeated the land. We captured these memories and history through landscape photographs, creating a book called “Show Me The Way To Go To Home.”

 Among the many photographers who have inspired me are Jungjin Lee and her brilliant landscapes of Israel; Hisao Kimura, especially his haunting photograph “Road,” and Sam Abell and his quiet, meditative, poetic photographs.