Just two weeks before the pandemic hit, I was photographing the Tibetan New Year festival in NE Portland. I met Tsering Choephel through The Immigrant Story, a volunteer organization telling the stories of American immigrants. They were writing about her amazing life: she fled Tibet on foot, walking the mountain passes into Nepal just as...
Telling people’s stories through powerful photographs: that’s what I love to do. Especially when the stories are about kids who defy the odds…and win. These stories are about more than the kids, of course. The doctors, nurses, parents, friends, and family all work together to beat the odds for these kids. It’s a privilege to...
This past month I flew to Vegas to photograph for a political campaign client. They focus on Latino voters in markets across the West Coast, which suits me well. I’ve spent a lot of time in Latin America and can get by comfortably in Spanish. These campaigns always focus on real people (not actors or...
We were excited to hear that an ad campaign we photographed (above) received 2 Gold Awards this spring! Both the Aster Awards and the Healthcare Ad Awards awarded it a Gold medal. Thanks to our friends at Gard Communications for excellent art direction, and for submitting the project! And thanks to our friends at the...
On the cover of OHSU’s magazine Onward, Dr Julie Graff. She treats patients and leads a research study that has provided the first-ever evidence that immunotherapy can slow life-threatening prostate cancer. We photographed Dr Graff in the infusion room at the Knight Cancer Institute, where her patients receive their treatment. She had this to say about her...
I get to meet some very interesting, very talented people as a photographer/videographer. While photographing for the Portland Makers series at ADX Portland, I met metalsmith Harlan Whitman, grinding away in his booth. Actually, he’s more than a metalsmith. His main work is as a fabricator for Universal Studios in LA. Harlan has a degree...
Kya Blake was struck by a sneaker wave, buried under a log…and lived to tell about it. Here’s what my client, Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, had to say about Kya’s story: Nothing stops Kya Blake. When she was seven, an ordinary trip to the beach almost killed her. A sneaker wave buried her under a log....
Many of you know that I spent about 10 years working on a series called Skeleton in the Closet, telling the stories of people with eating disorders. I also spent another several years working on Astra Velum, exploring how women often feel that their freckles are flaws. I wanted to show them as something beautiful....
As part of my Portland Makers portrait series, I recently visited the very cool offices of Portland Razor Company. I wanted to see firsthand how they handmake their straight razors and strops, and to capture the process on film. To me, Portland Razor exemplifies the spirit of the Portland ‘Maker’: locally handcrafted items, made at...
Having been a professional photographer for nearly 2 decades, I’ve picked up a lot of wisdom along the way. A few times a year, I have the opportunity to share this wisdom with students wanting to learn about portrait photography, location lighting, and the ins-and-outs of being a professional photographer. And I absolutely love it....