I’m music and documentary photographer based in Dallas.
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Write me a letter
if you were a vespa, what color would you be…in a hexadecimal code?
#ffcc00, hoping my monitor’s calibrated.
on a road trip, are most of your clothes in suitcase, a moving box, or a laundry basket?
Most of my clothes are on my body, unless I’m riding with someone who loves running the heater, in which case I could easily imagine my trenchcoat strewn gently across the back leather bench seat.
And the only reason we’re in a car is because I had to send the Vespa back in exchange for a new color, #ffae00.
describe your nearest “getaway spot.”
My nearest getaway spot is my car, which is the means to another number of spots to be reached after this initial getaway, I s’pose.
If that’s not a fair answer, I’d have to say Oak Cliff, which is a city in the southern part of the Dallas metroplex, and usually clear of anyone I’m acquainted with personally.
swim suit or skinny dip?
We’ve got time.
one place in the world where you haven’t been, but you MUST go.
Norway.
the longest road trip you’ve taken … solo or with a road trip buddy?
I have driven to the city of New York, which is a long way from Texas. The trip lasted about a year and I returned in a UHaul with everything I owned, which was thankfully not a big amount.
when visiting a new city, what intangible items are you hoping to capture?
When I am in another city, I have for about a year now made it a point to not focus on the large visual accomplishments of the men and women who make up the city (the towering structures and brilliant display of their handiwork), but rather opersons themselves who have their hands-at-work, putting flesh to ideas and creating culture.
I think that what makes an urban area so beautiful and interesting are the individual stories of the individuals and the collective story they tell as a whole. For the most part, I’ll maintain this as my storytelling interest (and parameter) when I’m there.
what is your favorite junk food when traveling?
I’m allergic to corn and all its derivatives. I can’t really have sweets (corn syrup) or starchy items (corn starch) so I stick with pistachios.
tell a story about a memorable, intriguing person you met while exploring who you never saw again.
I was in Greenwich Village in Manhattan with a 200mm one afternoon in the Fall of 2008, trying to get a sense of the culture there and to tell the story of the place and its people with the images I made.
I didn’t bring my camera to my face too often that day, but one of the few occasions I did, I sensed a person near me. My ears weren’t quite burning, but I could see him swivel around in my periphery. His hair was chalk and made quite a statement against the dark greenery.
His eyes were a bit of a piercing blue, which paired amicably with his nearly flourescent tropical shirt. When our eyes connected I knew it was my chance to make his portrait with him if he’d allow.
Since I was a bit away shooting at 200mm, I motioned to the camera, asking if I could photograph him. He winked and nodded, I made his portrait, but when I went up to thank him and ask for his contact information, he hurried off before I could get in a word.
The Result
describe your favorite local hang-out.
I work from and often meet both friends and clients at a place called The Old Monk, in my neighborhood. It literally appears as if an Old Monk lives there, committed deeply to hourly prayer and brewing excellent ale in aged, oak barrels.
describe how you feel when you’re alone with your camera and in a new location …
As if my function in doing so is also my purpose in doing so.
what inspires you to take the next step by photographing, writing, or composing a song about the area you’re in?
My inspiration is a collection of everything I’ve experienced. That what I have seen and heard is a drop in the ocean of the collective consciousness — the variety of expressions in cultures, the macro-interconnectivity and more local particularity of persons — I am invigorated by the possibility and presence of Story to be perceived and told.
