I'm from Connecticut, USA. I just graduated from school and I'm looking for jobs, so I'm currently living in Connecticut, but probably not for too much longer.
What got you started in photography, what keeps you interested?
I can remember the exact day I became interested in photography. I was in Boston with my friend, and it was one of my first times in a big city, and I just loved it. I started photographing everything. I had always owned a camera, but that's when my interest really took off. I joined flickr, and taught myself how to be a photographer until I went to college and was able to take some photography courses.
What equipment do you use?
I have a 4x5 field camera, a Mamiya 7, a Canon 5D Mark II, and some other stuff. I mostly use the large format camera, although I'm taking a break this summer because I currently can't develop my own color film and I'm not working on any projects that require it. Hopefully by fall or winter, I will have moved to a new place and I'll start doing my own developing again.
What is the first photo you see when you wake up?
The background on my phone when my alarm goes off.
Do you take one shot of a subject then move on or will you take several and decide on the best in editing?
It depends, but usually I'll make at least two images with my large format camera in case I have any issues with developing the negatives. If it's something I care about deeply, I will spend a lot more time and film on it. Most of the time, I don't get that attached to things.
What draws you to a project? Do you start with a good idea of what you want to achieve or is it a more loose process?
I suppose that interest, in all its forms, draws me in. If I'm not interested, I don't want to photograph it. And to a lesser extent, I consider the audience's interest when putting together a project. Some of my projects are very planned out, and others don't form coherently until the end.
If you could spend a day shadowing another photographer, who would it be?
I'd rather sit down and talk to my idols than shadow them while they work, but if I had to pick one...I'd like to spend a night out with Todd Hido in suburbia.
Is there a particular photographer, site, set of images or a photo book that you keep coming back to for inspiration?
The book "Photographs Not Taken" by Will Steacy is something I have been coming back to often. Websites like CULT, It's Nice That, and BOOOOOOOM offer more than enough of a visual palette to digest; I'm trying to keep my inspirational sources on rotation these days. The short story "Unaccompanied Sonata" by Orson Scott Card has been in my head for months. It imagines a world where creativity must come from within, and where drawing inspiration from other artists is sin.
Are you working on a project at the moment?
Currently I've been biking every morning around sunrise in the Appalachian region of Connecticut, and using my flip phone's terrible camera to photograph the landscapes I come across. I've found it strangely liberating, challenging, and rewarding. It's very different from how I usually photograph. When I was photographing houses at night, I would often travel by bicycle - driving a car is too fast and too disconnected, and walking is too slow. So, I'd like to continue riding with a camera.
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