About These Photos This website features a collection of my photography from 1978 to present. When I first became involved in photography, I almost immediately created photo projects to work on. Over the years, some of these projects turned into somewhat large collections. Below are descriptions of these projects and collections. More galleries will be added over time.
Please revisit these galleries from time to time, since they are constantly being edited and updated.
Also feel free to send a message: [email protected]
Streets of Pittsburgh: 1979-1986 goes back to my photographic origins. Between 1979 and 1985 I roamed the streets of Pittsburgh photographing most anything that caught my eye. The early North Side street portraits reflect what I felt to be a largely ignored and somewhat forgotten segment of the city's population. Also included are many storefronts as well as buildings that have vanished from the Pittsburgh landscape. I consider these photographs, especially the street scenes, to be a truthful and historic document of what the city looked like if you were roaming around the city in the early 1980's. The negatives from this photo say are archived in the Heinz History Museum.
Urban Nature: A New York City Nature Study is project I started while living in the Northern Manhattan neighborhood of Inwood. A few blocks from my apartment was Inwood Hill Park. I often took walks through the park on weekends and found the park's forest very soothing. Over a century ago when the area was designated a city park, the city planners decided to leave it in its natural state. As a result, patches of old growth forest still exist in the park. The park is a very good example of what much of Manhattan looked like before it was blasted, leveled and the street grid laid out. Inwood Hill Park fueled my appreciation of nature.
In 2004 I began photographing Inwood Hill Park with a 4x5 field camera. I soon began to photograph other New York City parks that contained remnants of forests. However, the project soon expanded and I photographed any natural landscapes within the city. The amount of nature in New York City is far more vast than most people realize. The only other city that has more square miles of nature than New York City is Anchorage, Alaska.
New York Nature: Landscapes of the Empire State is an extension of the New York City nature theme. Though I started out searching for old growth forests, I soon began photographing general landscapes. There were many road trips from one end of the state to another during the early years of this project.
Almost all my early landscape photography was done with a large format 4x5 camera and sheet film. In recent years I’ve switched to digital.
“The forest is my church.”
Not sure who came up with this phrase, but I love it!
Bronx Blues: Morning Walks in Van Cortland Park: Years ago, whenever I went for a morning walk in Van Cortlandt Park, it would often be foggy or misty. Even if the surrounding neighborhoods of Riverdale and Kingsbridge were somewhat clear, the park would almost aways have some level of fog or mist. At first the fog felt eerie. After a while, it became soothing in a very strange and moody sort of way. I decided the park, with its morning fog and mist, would be a great location for a series of sublime landscape photos. Despite my switch to digital cameras at the time, this project was shot entirely with a medium format film camera.
While working on this photo project I often thought about a line from the Eugene O’Neill play A Long Day’s Journey into Night: “I really love fog..it hides you from the world and the world from you. You feel that everything has changed, and nothing is what it seemed to be. No one can find or touch you any more.”
Flowers in the City is a project I worked on in the mid-1990’s when I became less interested in street-based photography and more interested in the urban landscape. For years I thought about a photo project where nature would contrast with a gritty urban environment. In the mid-1990’s, while searching for a new photo project to work on, I decided to work on a floral and urban landscape theme. However, this photo project had been on my mind as early as 1980 when I first saw the film “Times Square” and heard a song called “Flowers in the City” by David Johansen and Robin Johnson. The title of the song, as opposed to the lyrics, was the true inspiration for this series of photos. This collection of photographs is dedicated to the late David Johansen.
The prints from this series are gelatin silver prints hand printed in a wet darkroom and then painstakingly hand-tinted with Marshall's Photo Oils. A selection of signed prints from this project are available for purchase.
Autumn in New York is something I began working on a few years ago and plan to continue. I love Autumn in New York and this project’s a great excuse to explore the state's incredibly beautiful Autumn season.
Memories of New York is a collection of storefronts, bars, restaurants and buildings that have either disappeared or are reminiscent of a bygone era of New York City. At one time, these places defined my New York City experience and made the city unique. The strange thing about working on this project was I could look at a bar, business or building and sense it wouldn’t be around too much longer. Most of the photographs in this collection were taken between 1987 and 2000.
Coney Island - 1998-2000 is a photo project I worked on while I was a photo researcher at the Black Star Picture Agency. Though I'd given up street photography at the time, working at a photojournalism-based assignment and stock photo agency made me want to hit the streets again with my cameras. I figured Coney Island would be a great theme for a photo essay and spent much time photographing the amusement park between 1998 and 2000. I now see these photographs as the final years of the old Coney Island before development would change the look and character of the place.
Ever since I was a child growing up in Pittsburgh, I was fascinated with Coney Island from various books, movies and songs. One song that really struck me was Lou Reed’s ”Coney Island Baby." This collection of photographs is dedicated to the late Lou Reed.
Streets of New York is a collection of street based photography where I spent countless hours roaming the streets looking for an interesting composition. Sometimes it was with an individual person or even a crowd of people. Often it was a facade of a building. The photos are about exploring the streets of New York City and whatever happened to catch my eye. These street based photos took me on excursions into neighborhoods I may not have ever visited. It also brought me into contact with many different types of people I might not have met without photography.
I’m also avoiding the term “street photography” to describe these photos. I feel these photos are generally not the candid sort of street scenes often associated with the “street photography” genre. Though some of these photo may fall into the "street photography" genre, many of these photos do not include people. As was so often the case with me during many photo excursions, the photos are best described as a walk around the city and what I saw and was photographically attracted to.
Street Musicians and Performers is a photo project I worked on during the 1980's and 1990's. This project documents my encounters with these talented artists in New York City, London, Boston, Pittsburgh and Montreal. Spending a day seeking out street musicians was always time well spent.
Signed Prints For Sale: The Signed Prints For Sale gallery offers signed hand pulled prints going back to my wet darkroom days and ending with a decade or so of Piezography printing. Most prints are stamped on back and include technical details as to the process and paper used. All the prints in this gallery are from my personal archive. As of Spring 2025, I am no longer printing.
Vendor created prints are also available in many galleries with a variety of sizes and framing options. These prints are created by reputable outside vendors known for their print and framing qualities. These prints are not signed by me nor do I see them. They are shipped directly from the vendors who create them. However, these vendors offer an affordable alternative with many display options.
For more details visit the Prints Sales & Licensing page.
Thank you for taking time to view my photography!