Photography has been a passion of mine since I was a kid. I remember being a kid in the late eighties and early nineties, going to Ritz Camera in the mall with my parents. I loved looking at the really cool film SLR camera, I knew then I would be a photographer one day. When I was in high school, the only class I really enjoyed was photography. It became more real to me then, I was learning how to use a dark room. I would become the next Ansel Adams.
Well life happens sometimes and dreams get put on hold and sometimes forgotten. I moved into my own place senior year of high school having to support myself. Then 9/11 happened and the world changed. Like many others, I felt called to duty. I joined the United States Marine Corps and became a jet engine mechanic. I got married and we would eventually have a child come into this world. After I got out of the service life wasn’t all peaches and cream. I would struggle to find my place going to college and trying to keep my marriage together.
Eventually you learn again that life happens and things don’t always work out. My marriage was in constant tail spin and wasn’t healthy for either of us. We eventually would part ways from one another I would go back to repairing jet engines. I don’t regret anything, we were both to blame for our issues. Sometimes we hold each other back from becoming the person we are meant to be. So sometimes you have to know when to fold your cards before you go down that proverbial rabbit hole.
Fast forward a couple of years later, I found an amazing woman who saw something in me. She convinced me to follow my dreams and get back to my roots. No matter how many times I told her providing for the family is more important, she told told me I deserved to be happy and we would figure things out. 5 years later we are happily married (well sometimes) with a toddler and a small business. It’s kind of funny going full circle back to where I started.
I have recently graduated with my second degree in Graphic Design. I am just about as passionate about graphic design as I am about photography. While i make my living from the both of them, I do have hopes that I will change someones world someday. I hope that I will create a piece of art that will have a positive affect on someone’s day or even life. I wish to pass the gift that has been passed onto me through so may others art.
