I work exclusively on black and white film — large format sheet film and medium format roll film — and I make every print by hand in the darkroom. These are not stylistic choices made for atmosphere or nostalgia. They are the means by which I make the work I actually want to make.

I run the darkroom at Palomar College, where I teach and oversee the photographic facility. It is where I do my printing and where most of my serious thinking about photography happens.

Photography is not something I do alongside other things. It is the thing around which most of my life has been organized. I maintain a large and constantly growing collection of photography books — monographs, technical references, histories of the medium — that I return to as often as I return to any camera. They are not decorative. They are part of the practice.

My portrait work comes out of long, unhurried conversations. I am less interested in capturing a face than I am in photographing a person, and those are not the same thing. That distinction requires time, and something approaching honesty on both sides of the camera.

Get in touch

If you are interested in sitting for a portrait, the best place to start is The Sitting — it walks through the process, what to expect, and how it works.

If you want to talk about photography — film, printing, cameras, darkroom technique, or anything else — use the contact page or find me on Instagram.