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I was
born in Memphis,
Tennessee on a hot summer day in 1962. I suppose my life was
about as normal as any other child's at the time, but the times
were anything but normal. It was a time of upheaval and
change. The war in Viet Nam was a daily feature on the
evening news, and the civil rights movement was sweeping across
the nation. The latter came to Memphis and put the city on
the map for something more sinister than barbeque or rock and
roll, as Martin Luther King's life was senselessly ended on the
balcony of a downtown motel. Not
too much of it made sense to a young boy, and I suppose it sparked
my curiosity about the world. There were so many stories,
but the realities of life and the world were a mystery to
me.
I was a creative kid, spending a lot of time alone
drawing, painting, and writing little stories to amuse my
family. I used to paint pictures on Coca Cola bottles, set
up a stand next to the street and sell them to any poor sucker who
forked out a buck or some change. Perhaps
my greatest passion as a child was for movies. I loved
movies and secretly dreamed of one day seeing myself on the big
screen. I rode my bicycle to the theatre at least once a week to see
what was playing, and by the time I turned sixteen I was working
there, tearing tickets, popping popcorn, and getting the greatest
thing I could imagine, free movies.
It was
at the movie theatre, while I was a freshman in college, that I
bought a used 35mm camera from a friend. I had no notion
that my life was about to change, but change it did. I
enrolled in a photography course offered by the art department at University of Memphis, and from the moment I developed my
first roll of film I was obsessed with making images.
The
rest is history, as they say - well sort of, but not really.
I went on to discover a film program at university and
eventually earned a B.A., with a concentration in television and
film production. I worked for many years in video
production and photography, doing freelance work and working in
staff positions. After a career of starts and stops I
moved to the west coast. Unable to find work as a
photographer I rode the wave of success during the dotcom boom
and ended up living in
San Francisco for 12 years. Boom turned to bust, and my life was
beginning to feel like a rat in a maze. So, after barely
picking up a camera for several years, I returned to my
passion, never to leave it behind again.
I currently
live in Cusco, Peru. If you
plan to visit Cusco, please contact
me and let me show you around.
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