Photography Journal

Finally opened this magazine today. Wonderful. Buy your Diffusion copy today.… View More

This might be a good time for a mid-year review. I do this for work so I thought I’d do it for my art. It’ll give me enough time to course correct in the next 6 months. Also, public accountability is good. At the beginning of the year, I set the following goals: Do 4 photoshoots/per monthComplete… View More

Be inspired. Images from the Diffusion Magazine annual will be shown at A Smith Gallery. Buy your Diffusion copy today. This edition includes images of my work as well as an exclusive interview! Some images from the exhibition can be found at fotoseptiembre.… View More

“You should stop tweeting quotes from Carl Jung,” my partner says to me this past weekend. “Why?” I ask. “I think it’s great. My work is about self-discovery, so it’s fine to tweet about what I’m learning right now.” “Still, nobody’s interested in that. Do something else.” I sometimes wish that I took liberal arts courses in university. Then I wouldn’t have to learn about Carl Jung later in life. I would already know these things. But I was too focused on things that were practical then. Like accounting… View More

Infinity is a concept that fascinates me. It fascinates a lot of people too. Publisher Blue Mitchell titled the newest Diffusion Magazine Lemniscate which is a symbol for infinity. Maria Popova of brainpickings.org recently posted an article Infinity and Me: An Illustrated Parable at the Meeting Point of Science, Philosophy, and Love Converge.… View More

If you plan your visit to New York City to coincide on the first Friday and first weekend of any month, you can get into a lot of museums for free. Arriving Friday afternoon in New York, I was delighted to realize that MoMA is free Friday nights starting from around 5:30pm Neue Gallery on 5th… View More

There is a certain artist who fills me with jealousy whenever I see his work. I’m jealous of his success and his art. It’s not a nice feeling to have. And then the self-recrimination begins. You should work harder. Be more productive. Be more efficient. Be more ___. So I search my evernote for an… View More

The image Sleep is featured as Photo of The Day at Don’t Take Pictures!… View More

This past week, I washed 500+ cyanotype photograms. Probably even more. I was one of the artists in the Art of Science event at the Maryland Science Center, and by my rough estimate, there were over 500 kids from ages 6 to 14 with parents and teachers who went through my event. This was the first… View More

Last night, I dreamed that it was raining in my room. I stumbled to find the switch, and as the overhead light flickered on, I found that I was back in Waterloo, in a basement room that I had rented in a dilapidated house along University Avenue, circa 1992. This house was so run down that when it… View More

A Million Suns has been featured in all-about-photo.com! Thank you to Ann Jastrab, Gallery Director at RayKo Photo Center in San Francisco, for the opportunity. Click on the image above to read.… View More

This past Saturday, I did an artist talk during my pop-up exhibition at the Baltimore Theatre Project. At the start of my talks, I always pose this question: Should I remain as an accountant or become an artist? Do you go this way or that way?… View More

I just came back from fotofest, one of the largest photography festivals in North America. Held every other year, it is a month long festival with photography exhibitions across many art venues in Houston. I specifically went there for portfolio reviews, and I met with 21 portfolio reviewers over… View More

If there is one artist that I would love to be when I äóìgrow up,äóù it’s Robert Adams. Born in 1937, he is a photographer well-known for his work during the 1970s on the American West. He was an English teacher before he became a photographer. I identify with him because he started in one… View More

Here’s another article that has greatly influenced my work and thinking. This one is from Hugh McLeod, elegantly titled the Sex and Cash Theory. I’ve shared this idea since 2012 after reading Hugh McLeod’s book, Ignore Everybody; and 39 Other Keys to Creativity (affiliate link). It has a lot of staying power.… View More

I’m partnering with VTDance for a pop-up exhibition of A Million Sun images in the foyer of the Baltimore Theater Project, in conjunction with dance art performances on April 1-3. Come see the show and we could meet up!… View More

For the next couple of blog posts, I will highlight articles and books that have influenced my artistic practice. I read Mark Hobson’s article, Just Do It in 2006—way before I had any idea that photography would become a very large commitment in my life.… View More

I started photographing about 12 years ago, and that was at the same time that discovered 101cookbooks. I wanted to be a food photographer then, and I was in love with this food blog by San Francisco photographer, Heidi Swanson. Along the way, she published a couple of cookbooks (which I own), won… View More

I see so much great art that I’ve started my own personal collection. Here’s a corner of my studio. I have my idea board in front of my computer (empty right now as I just finished my second series, One Day). To the right of that, I have a Keith Carter print, Levitation, a Blue Mitchell print,… View More

During my artist talk at Art Intersection, one gallery viewer asked if I use a journal to work out my ideas for A Million Suns. Of all the artist tools that I use, Evernote is one of the most important. I use evernote for practically everything: inspiration, image ideas that I want to work on, any… View More

Thank you Aline Smithson for featuring A Million Suns in Lenscratch, the premiere daily journal that explores contemporary photography.… View More

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The new work is slowly coming together! I’m getting it ready for the photoNOLA portfolio review in New Orleans December 10-13, 2015. I therefore have about 1.5 months left. As I mentioned in a previous essay, setting a deadline is good: it makes you focus on what really has to be done. And I have a… View More

A number of AMS images are included in a new photography book entitled, Alternative Photographic Processes, Crafting Handmade Images, from Focal Press. The author of this book is a colleague, Brady Wilks. I’m reading through it now looking at all the handmade techniques for making unique images.… View More

The Memory show at see+ gallery in Beijing was a success! I wish I could have seen the installation and see the work from the other artists. I received the exhibition catalogue today and it looks amazing.… View More

In my readings, I frequently encounter two opposing perspectives on how to create art. This topic interests me because having been an accountant for 22 years, I’ve always regarded artists with awe. How do they come up with their ideas and their art? And since I can’t usually ask them, I turn to… View More

Two AMS images are part of the Photowork exhibition at the Barrett Art Center in Poughkeepsie, New York. The image, Rising, was used for the exhibition postcard (snapshot of the front and back shown above). Also, the AMS images won 3rd Prize out of over 900 entries! This show was juried by… View More

I’m proud to have AMS images shown at the see+ Gallery in Beijing, China, along with the works by Carlos Sebastia, Huang Xiaoliang, Wendy Sacks, and Susan Kae Grant. If you are in the area, please stop by. The show is up until July 11. More images from the show opening can be found in the gallery… View More

Recently, I agreed to participate in a print exchange with thirty fellow artists. I wanted to do something different: combine the comic book grid and the fine art photograph. In comic books, the grid may be a 3x3 matrix of images that moves the narrative along. Easy enough I thought, I’ve done it… View More

There are books that I come across that stay with me for a long time after reading it. Lynda Barry’s What It Is is one of those books. Part autobiography, comic, self-help book, and journal, it is a guide to becoming a writer. One particular page (as shown above) I still think about four months… View More

Two weeks ago, I spent five days with a group of artists during Mary Virginia Swanson’s Marketing Workshop and in discussions throughout the five days, it was clear to me that all of us were yearning for the vast and endless sea. Thinking about this yearning and longing is interesting. Where does… View More

A Million Suns (AMS) images were featured at the beginning of the year on a billboard right at Baltimore Penn train station.… View More

Three images from A Million Suns will be exhibited during the Atomic STEaM Photography show at The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History in Albuquerque, New Mexico from November 8, 2014 to January 8, 2015. “STEaM” stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics. While… View More

Two weeks ago I attended the opening of the Shenzhen International Photography Week in Shenzhen, China. It was the first time that all the images from A Million Suns were exhibited at the same time. I still can’t believe the whole thing happened.… View More

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Following Jeff Koon’s article last week, I remembered an interview that I did in 2010 with John Dugdale for an MFA assignment. John Dugdale is a huge influence. He was the catalyst for me trying out cyanotype, the 19th century printing process that produces a blue print. Reading this… View More

I was in New York City over Labor Day weekend, and I went to see the Jeff Koons Retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Koons is an American conceptual artist and one of the most famous living artists in the world today (and he lives in New York!). I was not familiar with his work,… View More

Recently, I won third prize at the APA Curator’s Voice Competition. The group show with images from all winning artists is up right now at the ModernBook Gallery in San Francisco until September 27. This is the last week to catch the Approaching The Unreal show. If you are in San Francisco, please… View More

I’m obsessed right now with the television show Cosmos. Netflix suggested it to me recently and I thought, “why not?” Is it a surprise that I got hooked on this show? It’s all about the universe. It’s all about stars. It’s also not a surprise since I’m attracted to works that create awe.… View More

“So” Sammy said. “So” “So that is not the question,” Joe prompted. “That’s what I’m saying.” “Continue.” They kept on walking. “How? is not the question. What? is not the question,” Sammy said. “The question is why.” “The question is why.” “Why,” Joe repeated. “Why is he doing it?” So goes… View More

I’m happy to announce that I won third prize at the American Photographic Artists San Francisco (APASF) Curator’s Voice competition! The exhibition will be held on September 4-27, 2014 at the Modernbook Gallery in San Francisco. I’m pretty excited. Lately, I’ve been thinking about this process of… View More

The nights of the King Arthur’s court were seated at a table and Arthur would not let the meal be served until an adventure had occurred. And, indeed, an adventure did occur. The Grail itself appeared, carried by angelic miracle, covered, however, by a cloth. Everyone was in rapture and then it… View More

I’m new to this artist thing: submitting to juried competitions, getting selected, exhibiting the work, hopefully inspiring a viewer, and selling a print. Everything is an adventure and a learning experience. Recently, one of my images got picked for the Maryland Federation of Art exhibition.… View More

I kept seeing David Hockney the past two weeks: first, in the Departures magazine cover for July/August; second, as I was hunting for a book to bring to the beach; and third, in a poster at a bed & breakfast place in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware! In honor of these coincidences, I decided to write… View More

In the process of creating art you develop mantras—things that guide you in art making. Here is one mantra: follow stupid ideas. Most of my images start out as stupid ideas. It’s true. If I’m working on an image, and I don’t think that it’s stupid at one point during the art making process, then more likely than not, that image will be dead on arrival (DOA).… View More

A friend and I decided to have lunch outside. It was nice out–something that will become increasingly rare as summer unfolds. My friend was especially reflective that day, and we got to talking about choices that he made in life. He felt that he hadn’t achieved anything worthwhile. He never made… View More

In my previous article, I talked about the pros and cons of getting a Masters of Fine Arts degree (MFA). I only saw the cons. I didn’t really see any pros. In hindsight though, I think there are five hidden pros that didn’t occur to me that I now think are invaluable. Community You become part of a community going through… View More

I am an accountant turned artist. I was talking to a photographer colleague the other day about our plans for the future, and she said something that was interesting:Don’t do that. Just say you’re a photographer. It’s like you don’t know who you are. You are straddling the fence.… View More

The Imagined Realities exhibition catalog from the PhotoPlace Gallery in Vermont is pictured above. Sleep was selected for the catalog. I was super-excited about this one as the competition was juried by Robert and Shana Parkeharrison. They are great influences in my own work. One thing that is… View More

I am currently taking my Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Photography at the Academy of Art University (AAU) in San Francisco, California. I’m almost done. I exhibited my cyanotype photography in three locations this year.… View More