I like to create work that challenges viewers’ perceptions and preconceptions; shifting and questioning the way they see the world. My photography draws from my experience as a theatrical director and lighting designer. I feel that it is a kind of performance in which audience interaction is essential. I am motivated by the prospect that my pictures may encourage someone to see things a little differently and a little more joyfully.

I’m delighted by the broad spectrum of people who are drawn to my art. My work has been chosen by middle school students to join Janus’ Mobile Art Collection in Colorado, and it hangs in the graduate English Department of Stanford University.  

My work has been published, collected, and exhibited internationally.

I live and work in my native San Francisco Bay Area, where I am deeply engaged in building, supporting, and expanding opportunities for artists. In the last couple of years I have stepped off the sidelines of the fight to protect our planet. I trained with the Climate Reality Project, founded by Al Gore, and I now devote much of my time to advocating for policy that supports a rapid and just transition to a clean energy future.

 

About My Work

You will find very different bodies of work in my gallery.

 

abstract photograph of water and clouds

Linger

The subjects of this series are at once revealed and obscured by long exposures. The camera moves with my gaze, capturing many perspectives and blurring the boundaries of them all.

I want to convey the feeling of movement and breath in these places that I love, and fuel a conversation between eye and brain, like a conversation between science and poetry. 

 

 

 

 

miniature figures exploring a colorful box of crayons

Overlooked Undertakings

When I was little, I fixed on the fantasy that we might be tiny creatures in a giant’s world. That idea is exciting and terrifying. Exciting because it means that there is so much more to learn than we can even conceive of, and terrifying because we could be squashed at any moment. I try to be like Horton, Dr. Seuss’ elephant who found a civilization inside a dustspeck, and pay attention to the small worlds around me.

It makes me happy to think that perhaps my pictures encourage people to see things a little differently and a little more joyfully.

The fantasy of being tiny in a giant environment is universally compelling.  Whether it is interpreted playfully, politically, or spiritually, we have all had some experience of feeling minuscule compared to our surroundings or our challenges.

These photos are created with conventional photographic techniques. The figurines are 1:87 scale; about an inch tall. I create the scenes and light them in front of the camera, drawing on my lifelong fascination with shoebox dioramas, and my training as a lighting designer for the stage.

 

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