HELLO
I’m a photographer, design-builder, and creative maker based in NYC. 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.
BACKGROUND
I graduated from Ohio University with a B.S. in Geology as I was curious about the earth and how it works. My studies profoundly altered my relationship to time and the natural world. After graduating college, I taught English in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and then travelled through India. Upon my return, I took a job with the National Geographic photographer Robert Clark, so I moved to NYC and got to work. 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 camera systems, studied classic portraiture lighting, as well as large scale lighting for 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, as an investment and gut renovation project, I bought a "dune shack" on the Cape at 81 Monument Road, the former home and studio built by the late artist Vernon Smith with an 1885 ice house at its core.
I got my start making things at home. I grew up with a workshop where we could design, make, cut, or weld just about anything, and watched my parents collaborate with each other to renovate their homes from start to finish. My dad is a brilliant engineer, who takes his craftsmanship very seriously, and my mom has curated a unique aesthetic over time, and has the ability to see things for what they could be. They make a wonderful team. I suppose I wanted to connect with them at that level and follow in their footsteps.
WHAT’S NEXT?
I continue to work with Jill and Mickey, and as a photo assistant, and the dune shack provides an endless canvas for experimenting and honing my design and building skills.
I'm currently looking to bring my skills to work with creative fabrication shops in NYC to design and build bespoke brand and retail environments, events, and photo shoots that inspire people. I’m open to contract or full-time work and also have access to a workshop and team of brilliant engineers and creative makers (my family) who can make and troubleshoot just about anything.
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
Intern Photo Assistant // Mark Seliger Studio // 2013
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.
People — organizing and leading small teams; collaborating with clients and creatives to craft solutions.
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 which I use to move dirt on the 2-acre property and to do other heavy work.
INFLUENCES
David Hockney — his constant experimentation with new techniques and working in different mediums to achieve his overall goal.
Alexander Calder — for creating art as energy from space and not-space and motion.
EDUCATION
Ohio University - B.S. Geological Sciences - 2012