Bio

Me as a person

Born in Charleston, SC, USA in 1973…

In contrast aquarians can be random and downright bizarre at times coming out with things that leave a puzzled look other’s faces. Some may wonder whether they are from another planet but their friends love them for their eccentricities because who wants to be normal anyway… that’s so boring.

I began my career the day that my father gave me my very first reflex camera in 1983. Having grown up in the family newspaper business (Grandfather – Founder & Father Editor) I was introduced to black & white photography as a kid. I studied to become a graphic designer/art director never loosing the passion for photography. Many years later I found myself living and working in Madrid, Spain as an art director for Young & Rubicam. It was then I new that I wanted to become a full time photographer.

Hence I possess a unique ‘out of the box’ way of thinking to come up with new ideas and solutions that nobody else may see.

Make no mistake about it, dreaming BIG and having the skills to turn those dreams into a reality is what it is all about. Therefore having the intelligence and imagination to come up with a plan and the tenacity to see it through til completion is also very import. I have the tendency to over-think the absolute hell out of things, I find myself over analysing things to the point where I feel incredibly stressed and anxious only to realise that it isn’t that big of a deal in the first place. In fact the school of life and the natural gift for understanding new ideas and concepts… FAST.

(image to the left, me speaking for PhaseOne to my peers on how I shoot and the technology that I use.)

My hobbies

Above all I am CRAZY about cycling!

My goal is to spend on average of 10 – 15 hours a week training. Obviously with all the traveling it does not always work out that way. But as soon as I am back home, the next day I am out cranking kilometres. In 2010 I gave up racing after more than 20 years, I still train with group of friends and their team as if I were still racing. However, without the stress of race day. Generally during the Giro, the Tour and the Vuelta you will find me watching hours of racing on TV or streaming.

As I said before I am crazy about cycling.

(image to the left is of me in the 1996 Fabulous 4th metric century in Columbus, NC, USA)

My Style

I admire, David La Chapelle, Annie Leibovitz & Helmut Newton…

just to name a few.

Furthermore, having gone to art school and not photography school, I feel that it was to my advantage. Consequently composing in camera for an ex-art director is easy. As a result I really like to create dramatic, quirky, cinematic look and feel in my visuals, be it photography or video. Thus, I pride myself in creating realistic yet interesting lighting. I almost always create and test my lighting schemes in studio before traveling to a location. This to me is key to creating the perfect lighting, not to mention when on set it is always comforting to the client to see my confidence in what I am doing.

(image to the left, Teenage me with my art project)

My vision

Sharing projects and trust.

In contrast each project is an experience, for me and for those choosing to entrust me the task. My work philosophy aims at quality, ongoing research and empathy. Of course work is a serious matter but smile is always On, the approach is always proactive and constructive and the client’s trust is my first goal and the greatest satisfaction.

(image to the left, me taking an image with my first reflex. Can you tell it is the ’80s?)