When I was eleven my father built a darkroom in the attic. This little room full of equipment, chemicals, and hanging sheets of paper fascinated me. To me, everything in the room was strange: the red lights, the trays of fluid, and especially the huge enlarger device.
I was a curious youngster, so I watched my father as he spent hours in his private workspace. One day, I watched as he put a negative into the enlarger and placed a white sheet of paper below the lens. He switched on the light of the enlarger When he moved the photo paper to the first tray I watched, amazed, as a faint image appeared. The image became stronger and stronger until my father moved the sheet to the second tray and the process stopped. I had seen the miracle of development for the first time. Photography had stolen my heart.
Selfie with iphone shadow
When I was old enough to work I got a part-time job as a paperboy. I spent most of my wages on photographic paper and chemicals. I remember that my parents gave me money for my driver’s license when I was 18 and, instead of using it for their intended purpose, I spent that money on my first secondhand Hasselblad, an old 500 cm with an eighty-millimeter lens. I shot in black and white and spent hours in my darkroom, just like my dad, cutting masks, trying different chemistry, re-toning prints with self brewed toners, and improving my craft.
After studying chemistry, a small misstep, I decided to make photography my profession. I went to art school and specialized in photography and established myself as a photographer. In the early days, this consisted primarily of documentary photography and renting myself to other studio’s to get jobs done. I learned to work fast. I shot pants, socks, towels, hammers, gardening tools, car rims, cakes, potatoes, and packaging. You name it … I probably shot it.
Now, decades after starting my journey, I’ve become a perfectionist. I’ve worked with the biggest names in automotive, gas, financial, and tech industries. These companies have come to trust my ability to make their ideas a reality.
I’m as eager to learn and improve my skills as I was when I was a youngster. That’s why I’ve trained myself in CGI–so I can make images that capture the imagination, even if they’re not possible in real life.