“ Of all the means of expression, photography is the only one
that fixes forever the precise and transitory instant.”

Henri Cartier Bresson “ The Decisive Moment”, 1952

"A Little Piece of Me"


It all started in high school with throw away cameras and polaroids. I fell in love with the camera, not so much for what the camera had to offer but more for the purpose the camera served. Documenting!!!! I could document this very night, this very instant, these people, right here, right now and the feeling was not only exhilarating, it was enthralling. I was captivated by the fundamental purpose the camera served. Subsequently, I became addicted to sharing my documentary work with others.  Immediately, I thrived on the happiness my photos provided and with this foundation, the love affair began.

In college, with a mediocre camera and a real passion to go anywhere and be anywhere at anytime, I convinced the editor of the college newspaper to give me a shot. I took my first assignment documenting a sporting event. Every week I received a phone call from my college publication. The paper offered me more assignments and soon I was sitting in the dark room developing my photos for the paper to  later on publish. As a photography editor part of the associated collegiate press , I relished in every opportunity to travel and shoot. With no formal skills in the technical aspect of lighting and photography , I began to seek out every opportunity to learn. That's when I became a photographer’s assistant for a very popular studio in New York City. I worked and worked and worked to sheer exhaustion. The nights, weekends and months seemed to become one big blur shooting weddings, special events and birthday parties. The pay was little and the hours were long but the encouragement, knowledge and support I received from my mentor was priceless.  My mentor encouraged, praised and guided me in a direction I never thought possible.

 My Nikon 90s and I were just starting out. I worked full time at the studio, fighting my way up the ranks from photo assistant to second shooter to main shooter on the job. I remember showing up to high end catering halls introducing myself as the photographer and watched as many perplexed faces tried to decipher if I was kidding or not.  The only thing more exciting than that, was watching their faces when they received the proofs.

This encouraged me to take an internship at Magnum Photo Agency in NYC. Wow, here I was, at 24 years old, with access to the kind of photo library photographers my age only dream of. Documentary photographers like Leonard Freed, Bruce Davidson, and Paul Fusco. These were the “Big Dogs” and I had the opportunity to meet them.  In accordance, I continued to work for the studio.  At this point, I was given a voice. Studio Photography & Design featured an article about me in a section titled “young professionals”. 

As I reflect back to the days of sitting in my journalism classes and looking at the slides on the screen of those photojournalists that inspired me, I remember the fire in my belly. I could hardly contain my excitement. To think “ I can do all that with my camera. “ I t is no surprise that scraping by financially, and working all hours of the day and night for little pay satisfied my hunger to shoot.

I am a documentary photographer. I love to document human expression, human experience and human interaction. I truly enjoy having the ability to seize that expression, interaction and experience through my valiant efforts that stem from my heartfelt passion.  Some call me an artist, others call me an innovator and documenter and some view me as a woman with a passion and a camera with a developed skill to create beautiful photographs.  All of these are fancy terms for something that comes naturally to me.

Seven years ago, I decided to go into teaching. I never intended to leave my photography career behind. Instead, I saw it as an opportunity to develop another area of interest in the hopes of funding my “very expensive and not so lucrative” passion.  I spent some time wondering if I made the right decision by becoming an educator and mourned for the life I had before I started to teach. Until, I realized that my experiences as photojournalist and an artist only added to my work as an educator in the classroom. I am lucky enough to say I am fulfilled by both areas of creativity . I would not trade one in for the other.  One road of passion can lead to another road of passion and awakening. I could never define my life by one and not the other. Perhaps it is true that neither photography nor teaching defines me at all. Perhaps it can be said that passion to create something that was not there before defines me.  I have a long way to go before I figure it out.

My work is authentic and it comes from a place only I can feel and hope to explain.

Some of my work is local and some of my work takes place in areas very far away from here.  But , the end result is still the same. I have created a document that has the ability to touch others in some way, some how.  The photo gives them a place to live, if not in the past then in the moment re-living the past.  The photograph inspires and touches the very core of the human. 

“Isn’t that what it’s all about?”