My photography became more than just creating beautiful images when I realized that I could fulfill a higher purpose for my work by showing the essence or spirit that I saw.

As the son of a Quaker minister and a meditator I learned a lot about honesty, humility, the importance of having an open mind and listening to my inner voices. My goal isn’t to be different it’s to be authentic and honest.

Photography isn’t how I started out. I thought I would be a graphic designer. While studying graphic design at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 1963 I took a required course with world-renowned photographer Harry Callahan.  Harry opened me up to a new way of working by encouraging me to trust my personal view of the world and give it expression thru my art. I was so inspired by him and his work that I changed my major from graphic design to photography and spent a fifth year there so I could spend more time working on my photography. I earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in photography. Harry became my mentor until his death in 1999.