I touched my first camera at the age of 17 and have been obsessed with the process of taking and making pictures ever since. I love everything about photography. I love the act of shooting, the magic of printing, the taste, the smell and the spell of it.

I have taught photography for the past 31 years and delight in having a job that blurs the line between work and play. For the past 15 years or so my work has consisted mainly of black and white landscapes and architectural interiors shot with a Toyo 4x5 field camera. I am frequently asked why black and white, not digital, color or montage. It is a very personal and very conscious choice that may change some day, but for now I am thrilled by the honesty of my format. I like the decisiveness of location scouting and planning, and the attendant paraphernalia of the view camera. I choose to witness the scene, not to change it… I like the truth of the primary image.

Aside from the occasional venture west, my work reflects the Midwest experience. What the Midwest lacks in topography, it makes up for in weather. I like shooting in transitional weather…snowstorms, fog, mist, and rain. I am drawn to the edges of things… the edges of weather systems; edges of water the edges of light. The cluttered canvas if like is less cluttered at the edges of things.

On a philosophical level, photography has allowed me to, as environmentalist Edward Abbey said, "take great walks to shed an entrenched existence for a new beginning…to get out in order to look back in." Lugging equipment forces you to slow down and lift the dark lens from your vision and open your eyes…twice. Photography can make you pull your car over to enjoy the luxury of fine light…to slow down, stop, set up. It allows you to shed fatigue and cynicism and head to new locations and thought processes in a fine childlike way. And that's really something.