Bedroom Obscura

This series is new and difficult to write about. What I know is this; in this series I strive to make a complete portrait of the people who surround my days and thoughts. I photograph these subjects in their bedrooms which have been transformed into camera obscuras. The neighborhoods in which my gracious subjects inhabit are projected into their rooms and onto their bodies. The tension between these individuals' private and publics lives is woven into one image. Drawing on the revelations of the work of Abelardo Morell, I hope to extend this natural phenomenon to an intimate, surreal and psychological realm. Click here to view.

The Corner of North Villere & Arts Street

On the corner of North Villere and Arts Street in the St. Roch Neighborhood of New Orleans stands a corner store. The building is dignified and damaged, having been abandoned before Katrina though heavily damaged by her. On this site I used scavenged pieces of rubble to build little pinhole cameras. Using drawers, a country crock tub, a Halloween bucket and an Electrosol bucket I photographed the St. Roch neighborhood from this corner store. During the week of residence with this building I photographed with these impromptu cameras while building a camera obscura inside the store. At the end of the week, the local arts community and the neighborhood residents were invited to view the images and the camera obscura. Click here to view.

South Bay Salt Ponds

South of San Francisco, along the coast of the bay, is the city’s overlooked backyard. This formerly lush marshland, once abundant with wildlife, has been slowly overtaken by industry and development throughout the last century. California has lost over 95% of its marshland and the productive ecosystems that go with it. In response California has launched the largest recovery project ever attempted in the United States in the South Bay of California. This photography series examines this slow healing process and the regeneration of the land.
These images are shot with a 4x5 pinhole camera. The length of time required to expose these pictures create a stillness and timelessness in the images that reflect the beauty and mystery of the place. Choosing to focus on the relics of the industry that once dominated the land, I hope to consider the historical artifact and its ability to resituate the mind and free the imagination to consider the histories of the places we live and move in. Click here to view.