Biography
I was born, somewhat auspiciously, in Matthew Brady Hospital in Albany New York in 1950. Like many photographers, including Ansel Adams, I had an intense interest in music at an early age. I started taking piano lessons when I was 12 and continued them through high school. When I entered college, it seemed a natural choice to declare a music major. But I had also been experiencing a fascination with Polaroid photography (my parents gave me a model 210). Shortly afterward, I purchased a Voigtlander Vitessa, a wonderfully idiosyncratic folding 35mm camera with a film advance plunger that stood about 3 inches high and looked like a wacky antenna. Before the end of the first year in school, I had switched majors to photography. I received my Bachelor's Degree in Art with a studio emphasis in Photography in 1976.
My images have been shown in numerous galleries, both nationally and internationally. I have published images in calendars and magazines and my work resides in many private collections, including the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. For the last nine years, I have been studying and perfecting the process of printing digital images on photographic paper.
Equipment
The images on this web site were all made with either Medium Format or Large Format film cameras. My camera of choice for over a decade was the Mamiya RZ 67 (shown in the portrait above). Although primarily thought of as a "studio" camera, the Mamiya has extremely sharp lenses and a negative size large enough to provide breathtaking detail in print sizes all the way up to 40 x 50".
My lens selection has always tended to be minimal, and with the Mamiya I usually carried only 2-3 lenses: a 50mm Wide Angle (equivalent to about a 24mm on a 35mm camera), a 90mm Normal (equivalent to about a 45mm) and a 140mm Macro Telephoto (equivalent to about a 70mm). At various times I have owned a 200mm Telephoto, a 110mm Normal, and a 65mm Wide Angle as well.
At various times I have used a Wista 4x5 Field Camera and have even hauled a Calumet 4x5 View camera around, although the size and weight problems severely limited the distance I could travel. Most of the time, I found the superb image quality of the Mamiya more than adequate.
Sadly, I no longer own any of these cameras, as the digital revolution has swept away old traditions. I have mixed feelings about this; digital imaging certainly has some advantages, but I miss the simplicity and user friendliness of film. I owned the Mamiya for more than ten years. Obviously, any digital camera I purchase today will not have nearly as long a life span.