As years passed, I began to fall in love with the absolute beauty of  the feminine form. In high school I did not shoot, but I unconsciously studied images. I collected all of David Hamilton’s books, I couldn’t believe my eyes with the beauty of his photos. Directly after high school I moved to Venice Beach, Calif. Inside my first apartment I hung postcards that I collected from photographers that inspired me. A darker world was about to be introduced to me via erotic concepts, harsh contrasts and surreality. At that time Jan Saudek, Bruce Weber, Stephane Coutelle, Alain Daussin, Horst P. Horst, Helmut Newton and Trevor Watson were boldly thumb tacked to my walls. During my twenties I entered the motion picture industry, working mainly at commercial houses as a production assistant. Eager to get close to a camera I gravitated to that department. I was so eager to learn cinematography that I listened to every single word I could possibly hear from the Director of Photography and Director. “Lets pull the film and then slightly overexpose. Lets push the film and rate it normal.” I had no idea what they were talking about, so out came the books on photography.  Over and over, I read them until my basic questions were answered. I believe that everything started to make sense after I read The Zone System.  Directors of Photography were Gods to me. Eventually, I became interested in the steadicam system. I took the steadicam course and began to assist and teach their workshops as well as be an instructor for their training videos. Still anxious to shoot motion picture, I purchased a small 16 mm camera package.

back

next page