How we live each day can be put into very common terms that we can all relate with, regardless of where we have immigrated from.  This is what has affected me the most about getting to know the families that have been gracious enough to invite me into their homes to photograph them. Faith and family have been the constant threads of unity throughout all of the Burmese families that I have met.  The families that I photographed have immigrated to the United States over the past 3-6 years and are now current U.S. Citizens.  They came from regions of Myanmar (Burma) to escape religious persecution and for economic reasons.  What is most evident in their lives is their passion and devotion to their faith, shown by how they treat others and through the simple and wonderful religious icon displays they each have in their homes.  They do more than their part in giving back to the community in which they now live: through their work, their schools and their church.  It has been a privilege to get to know them through the support provided them through Catholic Charities and their involvement in ESL Classes at B'nai Emunah Synagogue (just another example of a continuing interfaith partnership between the Synagogue and Catholic Charities).

The American Southwest lends itself to a variety of interpretations.  It is a land of spiritual and natural beauty.  It is a land with a unique legacy of history.  Having had the wonderful opportunity to attend a Southwest Landscape Workshop with photographers John Sexton, Ray McSavaney, and Anne Larsen gave me a chance to determine my own view and perspective of this incredible landscape.  The workshop centered on introducing us to the Navajo culture and affording us great opportunities for image-making in the Navajo Nation area, including Canyon de Chelley and Monument Valley (Tsé Biiʼ Ndzisgaii). 

Using a 4x5 field camera was the perfect format for capturing these powerful images.  Making silver prints and platinum prints allowed the subtle intricacies and details of these locations to emerge on the paper - unlike any other process. 

Colorado is such a magical place and has been throughout all these years.  An example of this is the first image on this page.  It was in RMNP during the fall of 1983 that I was able to "previsualize" an image for the first time - expose and develop the 4x5 film and print to get the desired result that I had in mind the moment I clicked the cable release on the shutter.  What an amazing experience for a photography student that I was at this time!  A thunderous rainstorm descended on this scene just minutes after capturing this image.

Other images on this page include 4x5 film format and 35mm infrared format.

California has the best of all the landscape worlds - ocean, beaches, mountains, high deserts, low deserts, redwood forests and much more.  Most all of which were within a day's drive from the photography school I was attending.  It made for unforgettable moments in some spectacular locations.  My one regret is not being able to meet Ansel Adams - the one photographer whose work inspired me (and I know countless others) to become a better photographer by learning and practicing the Zone System which he helped create.  I did attend a workshop near Carmel in the fall of 1984 after he had passed the previous spring and we were able to tour his darkroom and meet his widow Virginia at their home on the Carmel coast.  That same fall I joined a workshop trip that travelled to China and Hong Kong and the leader of that workshop was John Sexton, a former assistant to Ansel Adams from 1979-1982.  I attended several other workshops over the following years that were lead by John Sexton and his expertise and successful method of teaching the Zone System and making expressive prints is so invaluable to this day.

Venturing into the world of music artists has been a wonderful opportunity to not only enjoy the creative side of artists creating music but has had very fulfilling challenges in creative work for myself as a photographer.  Most of my work with one of my favorite bands, the Grateful Dead, has been documenting shows that I have attended over the years.  My highlight of working with the Grateful Dead was in 1990 and again in 1996.  During 1990 I had been having some images printed in a publication, "The Golden Road" (published by Blair Jackson) - a quarterly issue documenting life on tour and featuring interviews with band members and other artists.  Blair Jackson had recalled my images from a spring 1990 show when in 1996 GD Merchandising was looking for images from that tour and he passed along my name to them.  I submitted about 10 images to GD Merchandising and they selected 6 of those images to be used for a live concert CD release titled: "Dozin' at the Knick" from shows at the Knickerbocker Arena in Albany, NY from March 24-26, 1990.  Images were featured on the outside covers, the CD's themselves and in the CD booklet.   I also photographed shows for "The Golden Road" in the fall of 1990 - which included their East Coast Tour and also their Europe Tour.

Since 1995 there have been several incarnations of the band and most of the members now tour as "Dead and Company" and the "Terrapin Family Band". 

Side bar story on the signed band photo (my tale from the Golden Road):  the photo is from September 16, 1990 at Madison Square Garden in NYC - Bruce Hornsby's first show to sit in with them as an additional keyboardist.  Vince Welnick had started the previous week when the tour started.  I was able to get most of the signatures in June 1991 when the band played at Bonner Springs, KS.  I finished getting an additional one in April 1995 from Vince but was unable to get Jerry Garcia's signature - even though I did meet him getting in an elevator and had the print and a pen on me ready to go!  He was in a hurry and being respectful I didn't want to push it - he said maybe next time.  Sorry to say that never happened as he passed later that summer.

My experiences of doing band photography with them has helped me immensely as I have been photographing other artists since.