What do you love most about photography?
There are so many things I LOVE about photography. With the street stuff it’s the interaction with others; capturing moments in time. With my pinhole work it’s just the magic of a long exposure Holga; the surprise of things I get after seeing each roll. And with my new work, the wet series, its almost like I have come full circle; I am destroying good negatives with the hopes the outcome will transcend the original . I could go on and on about all the magical things I love about photography - could go on for hours .
Favorite two lines from any song?
ok, favorite 2 lines from a song; “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea”, by Neutral Milk Hotel. The lines are: “What a beautiful place I have found in this place that is circling around the sun, what a beautiful dream like a flash on a screen in a blink of an eye and be gone.” Just always stuck with me.
Craziest thing that has ever happened to you?
So many crazy things have happened to me! But one I will always remember is, before Coors field was built I would love to wonder around old lower downtown. And before the Flour Mill Lofts were the Flour Mill Lofts, it was this crazy empty building. One time while shooting in there (and you always had to jump a fence or crawl though a hole to get in; always an adventure just getting in). Anyway, I was shooting graffiti on like the 3rd floor, and I hear something a few floors up (there were holes in the floor and ceiling of the Flour Mill building). Anyway, I look out and up one of the broken out windows and 4 skin head/neo-nazi’s are looking down. Anyway they start down the stairs saying they are going to beat me; make me pay for being in there. I guess they hung out there. Well, I took off down the stairs with all of them chasing me, I jump off the dock onto railroad tracks that ran by the building. I started running as fast down those tracks as I could with the 4 of them chasing me. Slowly, one by one, they drifted off till it was just me and this very skinny skinhead. He was getting close and I thought he had me; I must have ran a mile, lol, they never did catch me, and I did go back! lol, what fun. Also, I was blown over by a F18 on the flight deck of an air craft carrier when I was a flight deck Navy Photographer; pretty scary. Been hijacked by a jeepney driver in the Philippines in the jungle. So many crazy stuff.
Best advice you have ever been given?
Best advise: work hard and laugh often!!
Favorite place to go in Denver?
So many favorite places I love to go in Denver, but 2 are at the top. Lakeside Amusement Park has always held a special place in my heart. I had worked there when I was young, like 16, and then a few years back I was lucky enough to help clean up the old Carousel. I would go in very early on Saturday and Sunday mornings, before the park opened, and was lucky enough to explore every inch of the place with no one around. Then working the Carousel the whole summer; taking photos at every break. What a beautiful old part of Denver. The 2nd is Riverside Cemetery. Again, I have been going there for as long as I can remember. It’s Denver’s oldest cemetery, and is such a very cool place to wander around with thoughts in my head.
I AM A PHOTO JUNKIE lol. I am so lucky to have found my passion at such a young age. I built my first pinhole camera at 12. I was doing Polaroids and shooting as much as I could all through school. Then I joined the Navy, and for 5 years was a Navy Photographer. After I got out of the Navy I moved back to Denver, and have worked in photo labs to pay the bills ever sense. All the while always making photographs. I have worked at Denver’s best photo lab for the last 11 years, Reed Photo Imaging. I have been lucky enough over the years too be involved in a few group and juried shows in galleries past and present here in Denver. I was lucky enough to be a part of the Month of Photography this March, with a piece being selected to hang in the Hinterland gallery; a juried show called Down the Rabbit Hole.
Having fun with gorilla art right now putting photos printed on brown craft paper with a spray painted stencil of a toy camera on abandoned buildings around Denver so keep your eyes open lol Thank you Denise for having me in your issue of TUSK I am a very lucky man to have such very good friends!!!
One last thing about Lakeside. As a kid I would sneak in and watch the Midget races at the old Lakeside Speedway. Wow, what memories going in there after it was shut down and almost crumbling. It was amazing, with thoughts of the old days of a Saturday night, the grandstands full of people, and those little cars screaming around that small track!
You need to check out RIVER SIDE it is an amazingly beautiful place!!! thanks again.
Gorilla Art
I decided I wanted a CHEAPER way to show my art, not having to mess with printing, framing and such, and fees to submit work for galleries . I have a graffiti artist as a neighbor and we started talking about stencil type of art, so i thought it would be cool to design a toy camera stencil and spray paint it on the paper and not on the building. So, with the help and advice of some other friends, I decided it would be cool to print on brown craft paper to give sorta a softer sepia look to the print. The 2nd one I put up was a 4 piece panel on a building on Santa Fe for the month of photography. The one you watched me put up was my 3rd, so I am still new to this. I plan on doing another soon on Broadway, I have to say knowing I may get caught is a rush and sort of addicting, so if I can do one a month I will be happy. The photo is scanned to a large file then printed on an Epson printer. The paste I use is just flour and water. My neighbor had done some gorilla art and told me to mix 1 part water to 1 part flour; but it seems to work better more like 1 to 5 you get a thinner mix, I mix enough for a few prints and just use a portable container and a sponge to put it up. It’s all organic and very non permanent. I only put them on buildings that are vacant knowing they will be down in a matter of weeks. its just a different type of graffiti; one that isn’t as permanent. Plus, its always cool to drive by a week after I have put one up and see the edges peeling up, or part of it torn; just watching it fade away is very cool
