I grew up in a small community outside of Chicago Illinois. There was tremendous access to culture, art, theater, and all of the things that a large city offered. The protections of the suburbs also contribute to the focus of my artwork. Having lived in an asthetically pleasing town, the raw, cut, unpleasant urban landscape was like walking on the surface of the moon. The tremendous alure of the forgotten industrial vessels of years gone by has inspired many of my pieces. In the 3rd grade, my watercolor painting of flowers was chosen from hundreds of gradeschool children to be placed in the youth galleries of the Art Institute of Chicago. In middle school I was introduced to black and white photographic process. With my dad's Canon AE-1 in hand I took photographs, processed the negatives, entered the darkroom and enjoyed learning many aspects of the photographic process which I still carry with me today. Aside from photography, one of my favorite mediums is oil painting. I appreciate all forms of art. I express myself as often as possible wether it be through painting, welding, building furniture, or writing. It's what you add to this world that makes it important.
Equipment
I have purchaed a lot of equipment over the years. I have several film cameras, and a couple of digital cameras. Here's a list of the stuff that I use regularly.
- Canon AE1 - Program (Black) with Power Winder
- Canon AE1 - Program (silver) with Power Winder
- LENSES
- 24mm f2.8 - 28mm f2.8 - 50mm f1.8 - 70-210mm f4
- Mamiya m645 + 80mm f2.8
- Nikon D-50 (Converted to Infrared with hot mirror replacment)
- Nikon D-90 With battery grip
- Lenses
- Nikon 50mm f1.8D
- Nikon 18-55mm f3.5
- Nikon 18-105 f3.5 VR
- Omega C700 enlarger w/Arista 50mm lens
- Besseler Printmaker35 with Besseler 50mm & 35mm lenses
- Lots of other goodies that I have either built or picked up along the way.