Bio

People often ask me why I use the pinhole.  Perhaps I initially drifted toward pinhole photography because other cameras and formats seemed too perfected.  I already knew the 4x5, 2 and 1/4, 35 mm, and digital imagery.  Pinhole leaves more to chance, and to become proficient at it takes a great deal of photographic knowledge.  I like exercising my mind and intuition by approximating framing, calculating exposures for a partly cloudy day, or lighting a studio scene according to the diameter of a pin.

I received my BA from Hampshire College in Amherst, MA where I focused on Studio Art and Agroecology, and my MFA from the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, NY where I specialized in 19th century processes, book-making and pinhole photography.  I have over a decade of experience teaching art and am presently finishing the requirements for my NYS teaching certificates in Visual Arts (K-12) and Earth Science (7-12) through the Individual Evaluation Pathway overseen by Genesee Valley BOCES.

Currently, I’m working on creating a business building and selling necked dulcimers, otherwise known as pickin’ sticks or gitwangs. These are three stringed, diatonically tuned instruments that are based on the tuning and playability of a mountain dulcimer.  I create them using sustainably grown wood whenever possible and I re-purpose scraps into jewelry and other useful items as well.