While we all are accustomed to seeing the world in color, I grew up seeing movies that were mostly black and white. These largely monochromatic black and white images are what influenced my personal aesthetic choice once I first picked up a camera. Through my early photos I have tried to tell simple stories using the black, white and grey backdrop of New York City, which always fed my creative spirit. Prior to moving to Los Angeles in 2011, I lived in Panama, Central America, for six years. Ablaze with color, these two environments have re-trained my eyes to experience new visual sensations, and while black & white imagery is still my preference, I've begun to incorporate more color shots into my portfolio.
I am a self-taught photographer and my photos are neither exotic nor abstract. I am not trying to push the photographic envelope in any particular direction and I eschew the embellishment and visual artifice so common in much of today’s digitized photography. Hence, I call my shooting style as “Straight-Ahead,” a term I borrowed a term from 1960s Jazz musicians who generally did not employ the music’s new electronic fusion innovations but continued to be guided by a more traditional jazz aesthetic. I believe “Straight-Ahead” characterizes my work because it simply entails walking and riding around street shooting using available light, and simply attempts to capture the overt social aspects of a particular environment or place, the people in it, and how they have shaped or left it.
I don't want my work to seem fatuous, trivial, or derivative. I have always inherently been drawn to the ironic, expressive side of urban life, particularly as experienced by African Americans. Thus, while my subjects are primarily, though not exclusively, African American, they reflect a broader slice of the realism and wit of everyday human experience. I want each of my images to tell a story which evokes an emotional reaction or opinion, and leaves a lasting impression on the viewer.