This long exposure photograph was shot in North West Pennsylvania at an event known as The Black Forest Star Party. Astro-Photographers and Astronomers a-like head to one of the least light polluted areas on the east coast for a weekend of star gazing. While mostly everyone was looking up, I wanted to look around. I came across this moment, and it made me think of all the silence around me. While there were thousands of people in attendance, there were many pockets of peace and solitude and an overall quiet atmosphere. It served as a therapeutic moment to reminisce on. 

Photographed in 2021. Digital Photograph. 

"The Rose" is inspired by Tupac Shakur's "The Rose That Grew From The Concrete" . On Valentine's day in 2016, I rushed to gather as many different colored roses I could that were available. I remember one of the florist's saying, "she must be very special." I smiled and replied back, "these roses are for everyone." Once I found the composition that was going to work best to realize the concept, I made several exposures. I created a composite of the various light trails happening around the bouquet, to give a full feeling to the middle and center of the composition. An interesting moment of light refraction, in the top left, it looks like an error with the building looking misaligned. This phenomena happened when a city bus passed by, and the way it's shape bounced light in respect to that building created that effect on the exposure. May we all receive our roses while we can still smell them, and in the words of the late, great, Mr. Shakur - "Long Live The Rose That Grew From The Concrete".

Around 2am one night I heard some rustling out in the back alley. At first, I paid it no mind because sometimes that’s just the sound of city living. This rustling went on for more than a few minutes, became much louder, and was being accompanied by a voice.

I watched from my window as this person was fighting a battle. It could be from needing a fix and going through withdrawal, it could be voices and thoughts plaguing their mind, it could be both, it could be neither.

As I watched them going through this episode, I did question whether or not to pick up a camera. I thought about particular photos in the history of photography that were controversial. I also thought about how those photos started or added to important conversations about society.

I watched the swells and emotional rollercoaster this person was experiencing. With each bottle broken or item thrown they fought to find peace. They were not being destructive to property, this was all trash, and my car was closest to them while they fought how they felt. I have car insurance, I wasn’t worried about that. This person was fighting for their life.

As they began to get worn out, at one point they were crotched down, sobbing heavily, they looked up at the street light and that’s when this photo happened. It may be God, divinity, energy, whatever you want to call the moment of salvation I watched them experience. All I know, in that very moment, they beat whatever they were fighting against.

September, 2021. Digital Photograph. 

Most of my work to date exists in the Realism genre. I'm not one that likes to be boxed in, deciding that I needed to experiment with more abstract and surreal ideas. I started the project Abstract Realities to take natural elements found on earth, and create abstract viewpoints with them. This is a macro photo of a seashell. 

2025. Shot on iPhone.