Biography: Photography and Design

My first exposure to the works of Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, and other Magnum photographers left me with an insatiable appetite for trying to capture dramatic moments in my everyday life. I've come to feel that nothing is ordinary. There is always a hidden narrative present, a composition waiting to be seen. It's not always obvious, and some relationships elude me completely, but I've found that even the most mundane of situations, the most seemingly lifeless, uninteresting places, can reveal new meanings and emotional content if I'm just aware, patient, quick, and lucky enough to appreciate what's right in front of me.

I attended the Rochester Institute of Technology from 2000 to 2004, where I earned a BA in Computer Science/Computer Animation Studies. Even though I am for the most part a self-taught photographer, my interest and early education in photography began there. I learned informally by attending various lectures, sitting in on critique sessions, and following friends on their photo shoots.

Shortly after graduation, I worked as a freelance 3D designer and animator. From 2004 to 2007, I learned a great deal about digital workflow and post-production working on projects for various architecture firms and rendering companies.

Since I returned from Afghanistan in 2009, I've been working as a professional photographer in Brooklyn, New York operating out of my studio in Windsor Terrace.

Biography: Military

My time in the Army began in 1998 when I enlisted as an active duty infantryman with the 25th Infantry Division stationed at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. In 2000, I attended ROTC at the Rochester Institute of Technology where I was subsequently commissioned in 2004 as an Ordnance Second Lieutenant in the New York National Guard.

In 2008, I was deployed to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom VII. I worked the first half of my tour as a mentor at the Kabul Military Training Center where I helped to set up the country's first Basic Officer Training Course for newly commissioned Afghan Lieutenants. Shortly thereafter, I was transferred to an Embedded Tactical Training team that was responsible for mentoring a newly formed Afghan logistics battalion. During my time with the ETT team, I conducted convoys up and down Jalalabad Road in Kabul on a daily basis. Eventually, I participated in the largest convoy in the history of the American occupation. It was a cross-country trip along the southern portion of Ring Road, the nation's only major highway, which began in Kabul and took us through Ghazni, Helmand, Kandahar, Nimruz, and Farah, the five most dangerous provinces in the country during one of the deadliest years of the war to date. I spent the last portion of my deployment in Herat province, where I participated in convoys throughout Western Afghanistan.