I am a photographer in Chicago, IL, USA. I grew up on Long Island, just outside of New York City in the town of Great Neck, and attended the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY, from which I graduated in 1994 with a BA in Studio Art.  My work at that time was a 50/50 blend of photography and sculpture.  I then went to graduate school at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA, from which I earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in 2001, and then moved to Chicago, IL.  I have been working as a freelance photographer ever since.

Most of my work has been photographing works of art for artists, galleries, etc. I started doing this kind of work while in graduate school, first photographing my own sculptural things, and then helping my colleagues photograph theirs. Eventually I had to start charging for my time, and things started to snowball. When we moved to Chicago, it made sense to continue in that line of work, which still occupies much of my time.

I’m now in the process of shifting my business towards photographing weddings;  I’m really excited about this new direction in my work, and I look forward to doing much more of it over the coming years.  My first experience with professional photography was working as a lighting assistant for a couple of wedding photography studios; I worked with many photographers at many, many, (many!) weddings; doing them on my own now is … awesome.  It’s an honor to be present at someone’s wedding (even if I’m there as the photographer); I take it as a privilege to be allowed to participate in  someone’s event.

In 2004 my wife (who makes vintage reproduction garters and other women’s fashion accessories, under the name Previously) and I started renovating our kitchen, doing all the work ourselves.  As she puts it, “This project took our youth, our money and our joie de vivre. We now have a beautiful kitchen and a strong liking for gin.”  It was an enormous project (took 5 years – yes, 5), completely ruled our lives, it’s finally finished, and was completely worthwhile.  There really isn’t any sawdust in the cereal at all.  None!  Lately the kitchen is serving nicely for my newest hobby, home beer brewing.

Here‘s the story of the microwave table in the picture below.  Sadly, Stella (the fastest cat in all of Chicago) is no longer with us.

D.

Tail-end of kitchen project

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