My work is primarily project driven and tends towards realism. It is often described as traditional. In fact, my primary influences come from the early masters -- Porter, Steichen, and Strand, to name a few. While I welcome this comparison, realism is merely a means to an end. Rather, I believe that my background in the social sciences does more to shape my vision than my genuine fondness for the work of photography’s pioneers. My real interest is to capture timeless moments, and to stimulate curiosity about how, when and why these have been influenced by man. To quote Eudora Welty, “Place is my source of knowledge. It tells me important things. . . .” Place is an important theme throughout my work. Making a photograph is a struggle between my mind’s eye and the subject. Eventually, they merge in a peaceful coexistence. The resulting photograph becomes more than the subject. The viewer can’t possibly travel to this place with me -- it is mine. Instead, hopefully, the image before them will ignite their own internal journey to a time and place of their own. Perhaps, John Szarkowski expresses it best when he cautions that artists should not see themselves as “autonomous creator(s),” but, rather, “as creative celebrants of what is given."