About
"Are you excited?...Are you excited?" The Ikea Entertainment Liaison asked.
She had posed this question with genuine enthusiasm, every four or five minutes since we'd met. My jazz band had just finished setting up in the store cafeteria.
I wasn't excited.
Performing to a sparsely filled cafeteria of unsuspecting diners who were just there for the meatballs, didn't hold the same allure as a smokey club. The environment is important. It made me realize my love of music is as dependent on the images created in my mind as the notes being played. I'm driven by visuals: colors, shapes, lines, expression, culture.
I grew up with the work of Ansel Adams and Andrew Wyeth in the house. They were as important as Miles Davis and The Beatles. As I turned further toward photography, I saw the parallels of line and color, energy, emotion, atmosphere, and a million other things that both disciplines share. Combined with a fascination for people, who they are, what they do, why they do it and how we all get along, I had found my voice. I shifted focus from being a full-time jazz drummer, music teacher and university professor to being a photographer.
Now I spend my days crafting images, working with inspiring people, trying to inspire in return, solving problems, communicating and finding common vision.
Putting something into the world that never existed before, expressing the simple beauty that is every person, the joy of a color and a line and the emotional power they communicate through shared culture and personal experience...these are the things that excite me.
I have been privileged to work with these fine people:
NEXTMusic, RABI, Mountain Outlaw Magazine, Caldwell Banker, Athira Pharma, HDMZ Healthcare and Science Marketing, SUM Style, Hennesy Design Group Inc., Momentum Vans, Koeles Designs, Downbeat Magazine, Huffington Post, Jazziz Magazine, University of Chicago, Seattle Genetics, Studio X, Western Washington University, True Good Creative, Modern Drummer Magazine, Interactions Magazine, Downbeat Magazine, Jazz Times Magazine, University of Richmond, Sangamo BioSciences, Inc., Poppy Seed, City Arts Magazine, Seattle Times, University of Washington, Walgreens, Taylor Shellfish Farms, AAA Journey Magazine, Seattle Post Intelligencer, UW Campus Sustainability Fund, FINAO, Durand Tonearms, Columns Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, UW Chamber Dance Company, National Public Radio, Tolley Guitars, Seattle Magazine, The Stranger, University of Washington Department of Dance, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Sparkman Wines, Seattle Metropolitan Magazine, Seattle Weekly, University of Washington School of Music
AWARDS
2023 International Color Awards Portrait Award Winner
2023 reFocus Awards Fine Art Honorable Mention
2023 International Color Awards Fine Art Award Nominee
2023 AI-AP American Photography Award AP 39 Winner
2023 AI-AP American Photography Award AP 39 Winner
2022 Budapest International Foto Awards Honorable Mention
2022 American Photographic Artists San Diego Winner
2022 American Photographic Artists San Diego Winner
2022 International Photo Awards Winner "Editorial/Press-Personality"/Official Selection
2022 International Photo Awards "People-Portrait" Honorable Mention/Official Selection
2022 International Photo Awards "People-Portrait" Honorable Mention/Official Selection
2022 International Photo Awards "Fine Art-Minimal/Minimalism" Honorable Mention/Official Selection
2021/22 Lürzer's Archive 200 Best Ad Photographers Worldwide
2021 International Color Awards Honorary Color Master
2021 International Photo Awards "Advertising Self-Promotion" Honorable Mention
2021 International Photo Awards "Advertising Self-Promotion" Honorable Mention
2021 International Photo Awards "Fine Art Portrait" Honorable Mention
2021 International Photo Awards "Fine Art Portrait" Honorable Mention
2021 International Photo Awards "Music Advertising" Honorable Mention
2021 Communication Arts Photography Excellence Award Winner
2021 International Color Awards Nominee
2020 International Photo Awards "Portrait" Honorable Mention
2020 International Photo Awards "Portrait" Honorable Mention
2020 International Photo Awards "Portrait" Honorable Mention
2020 International Photo Awards "Fine Art Portrait" Honorable Mention
2020 International Photo Awards "Portrait" Honorable Mention
2020 International Photo Awards "People" Honorable Mention
2020 International Photo Awards "People" Honorable Mention
2020 International Photo Awards "Movement" Honorable Mention
2020 International Photo Awards "Movement" Honorable Mention
2020 Communication Arts Photography Finalist
2020 International Color Awards Nominee
2019 International Photo Awards Honorable Mention
2019 International Photo Awards Honorable Mention
2011 The Marketing Awards City Arts, Arts Fest issue, Best Print Feature
PRESS
Canvas Rebel - Meet Steve Korn
Photopolitic - Top Ten 2022
PhotoPolitic - Sci-Fi Adventure
Shoutout Atlanta
Photography Chronicle - Ghosts
Photography Chronicle - Face Project
Lürzer's Archive - Who's Who
PhotoPolitic - Ghosts
PhotoPolitic - Top Ten of 2021
PhotoPolitic - Becky Loves to Skate
PhotoPolitic - A Beautiful Dissonance
PhotoPolitic - Simon Okullu
PhotoPolitic - The "Be Everywhere" Philosophy
AI-AP Pro Photo Daily - Reaching Higher
PhotoPolitic - Top Ten of 2020
PhotoPolitic - Moving Forward, Exploring and Reaching Higher
PhotoPolitic - Dia de Muertos
AI-AP Pro Photo Daily - Face Project
PhotoPolitic - Shapes, Colors and Textures
PhotoPolitic - Face Project, International Women's Day
PhotoPolitic - Face Project Pt. II
PhotoPolitic - Face Project Pt. I
Fine art prints are available for all of my work, please contact me for sizes and prices.