MY PURPOSE: To make things that create a sense of wonder in people.
WHAT I DO: I am a photographer, design-builder, and creative maker based in NYC. I specialize in creating environments and experiences, mostly for other creatives. I love collaborating with creatives to solve problems in unexpected ways and to help execute a vision. I specialize in carpentry, lighting design, photography, and the design and fabrication of furniture and interiors.
MY PASSION: I'm passionate about creating environments through the careful curation of details and elements. I collect small things, build furniture, or design built-ins, to create a certain feel and tie a space together as an experience. I love working with wood and metal, and elements found in nature, and especially creating spaces that feel ethereal and otherworldly through the play of light.
BACKGROUND: I was trained in carpentry and design working on our family homes with my parents and sisters. I grew up with a workshop where we could design, make, cut, or weld just about anything, and I watched many renovation projects from start to finish. I've always loved looking through materials and scraps to see what I can make.
I went Ohio University and completed a B.S. in Geology as I was curious about the earth and how it works. This profoundly altered my perspective on time and relationship to the natural world. After graduating college, I taught English in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and then travelled through India. Upon my return, I moved to NYC to follow my dream of creative work, and got my start in photography with the National Geographic photographer Robert Clark. After a year as his studio manager, I left to work with celebrated photographer Mark Seliger, where I learned how to work with many different cameras, studied classic portraiture lighting, as well as lighting used for big commercial jobs.
After years of assisting photographers, I began to combine my passion for making things with my lighting and photography work. In 2019, I started working with NYC sculptor and designer, Jill Platner to renovate her live / work / retail building at 167 Crosby Street. Jill introduced me to Mickey Ashmore of Sabah, a shoe store at 56 Bleeker Street, and I began work with him on the interior of his shop. In 2022, I bought a "dune shack" on the Cape at 81 Monument Road, the historic home of artist Vernon Smith with an ice house from 1885 at its core, as an investment and gut renovation project.
WHAT’S NEXT:. I continue to work with Jill and Mickey, and also as a photo assistant, and the dune shack provides an endless canvas for experimenting and honing my building and landscaping skills. I'm currently looking to bring my creative making and photography skills to work with creative fabrication shops to design and build bespoke brand and retail environments, events, and photo shoots that inspire people.
WORK EXPERIENCE
Creative Collaborator, Designer & Maker // Jill Platner, Inc., 167 Crosby St // 2019 - ongoing
Creative Collaborator, Designer & Maker // Sabah, 56 Bleeker St // 2022
Carpentry, Construction & Landscaping // Dune Shack, 81 Monument Rd // Ian Hoogenboom // 2022 - ongoing
Lighting Design & Photo Assistant // Ian Hoogenboom // Various Photographers // 2014-ongoing
Studio Manager // Robert Clark, National Geographic Photographer // 2012-2013
SKILLS
Photography — composing an image; an understanding of impactful visual communication; brand direction through images.
Lighting — an understanding of lighting and how it affects an image or environment; a tool for impactful visual communication; understanding its part in the bigger picture of brand direction through images.
Making / building / carpentry — comprehensive knowledge in building practices, working knowledge of hand tools and shop tools, ability to quickly build on existing maker knowledge to meet the goal of the project.
Computer — highly computer literate; software skills include Adobe Creative Suite, CAD, Capture 1, and MS Office.
Heavy machinery — I can drive big trucks around NYC; a big old backhoe lives at the dune shack at 81 Monument Road which I use to move dirt on the 2-acre property and do other heavy work.
INFLUENCES
David Hockney — his constant experimentation with new techniques and working in different mediums to achieve his overall goal.
Andy Goldsworthy — the way he uses natural objects to create harmony.
Alexander Calder — his shapes and ability to work with various materials.
EDUCATION
Ohio University - B.S. Geological Sciences - 2012