Bio

I began my commercial photography career opening my business called Catfish Farms Studios. I specialized in large format (4x5 and 8x10) studio photography shooting still-life, advertising and stock images for ad agencies, design firms, and corporations. Past clients included Farmers Insurance Group, GUESS Shoes, MacIntosh LABS, Allergan, City National Bank, The Walt Disney Company, K-Swiss, VANS Shoes, Sony Electronics and Kenwood USA. I began my teaching career at UCLA Extension creating digital shooting classes and studio lighting courses. In 2000 I started teaching part-time at Santa Monica College and in 2012 I was hired as a full-time faculty member and was awarded tenure 4 years later. I teach B&W printing, Studio Lighting and the Business of Photography. Currently I am working on two personal projects. The first is series of large format still-life images inspired by Imogene Cunningham, Josef Sudek, Andre Kertesz and Paul Outerbridge. The second are digital abstracts using the iPhone for capture and final manipulation. Both series were started to continue my personal growth as a teacher of photography. To be an effective teacher it is important to continue developing as a photographer. My students will create more interesting work when I am a fully committed photographic artist. Developing new bodies of work furthers my abilities to inspire and guide them.