I had a commercial photography career before becoming a full-time artist - in fact it paid for all the money I was losing as an artist. The vast majority of my jobs were, coincidentally, architectural. I would shoot interiors and exteriors for design and architectural firms and for decor magazines. During the day I would shoot expensive […]

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This is a technical response to an email I received.  Read this in place of a sleeping pill. 
QUESTION: 
Hello X.N.,
My son and I saw your work at the Des Moines art show.  We really liked your work and spoke with you for a while about the night shots you do.  We’ve been contemplating trying some shots of […]

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What a fantastic show Cherry Creek is… my best show ever.
I went shooting last night in Denver. I had planned to go Friday and Saturday but I was too wiped out, so Sunday night I dragged my sorry ass into the night air, determined to find something. A double espresso brought me back to life.
I […]

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Onward and onward… I’m sitting at the airport in Des Moines with 30 minutes to spare, waiting for my plane to take me back to California. After the show in Milwaukee I went out shooting with a young, local photographer, Mark Adgate. I’m thrilled about the one shot we did! It will be on-line in a few […]

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I just got back from shooting in Milwaukee and I found an image I’m excited about. It was a brand of image you have to be very disciplined with… One where you have to strip all the excess, and get to the core of the image. Its often tempting to pull back because there’s more to […]

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Gregory Crewdson is one of the photographer/artists on my list of favorites. His images have been described as being like a demented Norman Rockwell - they blur the distinction between reality and fiction in a world of perfect chaos. He shoots mainly in suburban settings, frequently at night, and sets up elaborate productions, bringing in large […]

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This is one of the last shots I ever did with my all-time favorite film: Agfa Ultra. Of course it died from neglect. Actually the whole company died…  it went bankrupt several years ago… one more victim of the digital tidal wave.  I had heard rumors of the film’s demise, but the company’s techies told me […]

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I just found my Brain Worm mascot. I shot this in 1985 during a Montreal winter cold snap - I’m thinking -30 C / -22 F.
For years I wanted to do a whole series of close up frost pictures. I know there would be a whole glorious world to discover in the beautiful intricacies of […]

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The shoot in Indianapolis went well  -  I should say great, because I just got the film and pictures back from the lab today, and I’m very, VERY pleased. But I’ll say “well” because I’m my own worst critic.
It was a dirty shoot, and another smooth adventure. Dave Evans and I went crawling around and under tight […]

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After 18 months of living in the Bay Area, I have a handful of images I’m happy with. It hasn’t been easy. I’ve scoured this vast and relatively young urban setting for old decaying stuff to shoot. Whenever I was out, I sniffed the air for urban rot. I followed countless leads and found myself in countless dead […]

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