I was born in the Show Me state where I not only earned my photography degree but held my first camera. I was 8 years old, loved to draw, and had never seen more than a snapshot. In 1986 my mom gave me my first camera – a Kodak Instamatic 104. I took pictures with this simple device, hoping to capture the scenes the way my eye captured them. I wanted to share memories exactly as I had experienced them. When my first two rolls of film came back from the grocery store lab, the images were not what I had envisioned. Disappointed, I put the camera in my closet and never loaded it with film again.
Twelve years later I enrolled in a drawing class. I was not yet an art student, but was taking the course as an elective. My professor also taught photography and encouraged me to sign up for a photography course and consider art as my major. I followed her advice and realized that all of the disappointment I felt years earlier could be overcome with training. I learned that I could control light and camera to bring my visions and memories to material reality. It was that realization that made me fall in love with photography again. I felt like that 8 year old taking photos for the first time, full of wonder and exploration.
The images I made are simple and straightforward. They also carry great personal meaning and importance. Each is a pre-visualized moment which I captured, so that I may share my memories with others. These are the images I typically create. There is a second use of photography for me. As an artist, I not only want to share memory and experience, but also bring into reality an image which has not yet existed. They are projects where I create what I want to see, not just re-create what I have already seen. These projects inspire me to create installations, invent new photographic processes, build contraptions, and digitally composite elements. They grant me the room to stretch my creative legs and infuse additional meaning and intention into my work.
After college, I didn't immediately jump into a career in photography, but instead traveled the country working various jobs in various cities and picking up many interesting stories and experiences along the way. While not professionally pursuing photography at that time, I never stopped being a photographer. I continued planning and building contraptions, experimenting with photos and lighting, working with both darkrooms and Photoshop, and subjecting my friends to shoots in the basement. Now that my wandering is behind me, I have settled in Minneapolis where I am devoted full-force to my photography.