A B O U T M E

Welcome, and thank you for taking the time to visit my website. Having graduated Summa Cum Laude (earning a BFA in visual arts—with a concentration in photography) from Mason Gross School of the Arts Rutgers, New Brunswick, earlier this year, I found myself reflecting on the journey I've traveled thus far as an artist. This website is a manifestation of that still-in-progress reflection. It offers the viewer insight into where I've been as a photographer—and hints at the artistic journey ahead.    

For many, frequent visits to art galleries and museums inspired their passion for creating their own visual art. However, from childhood, my passion for creating visual art was more influenced by frequent visits to my local movie theaters. Movies such as Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (directed by Henry Selick), Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth, Ridley Scott's Alien, John Carpenter's The Thing, and William Friedkin's The Exorcist, to name just a few, heavily influenced my artistic sensibilities—particularly when it came to photography. The same can be said for the sci-fi/horror/fantasy-themed television programs I watched growing up, such as The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, The X-Files, and Black Mirror—which, above all else, involved great storytelling.

Most of my photography involves storytelling—at least on some level. Sometimes, I convey a story within a single shot; other times, a series of shots. While I strive to provide a solid foundation for each story, there is intentionality to leave enough room for interpretation—encouraging viewers to bring their imaginations and personal experiences into play as they view my work.

If I were to choose a single word to describe most of my photography, it would be cinematic. If a single shot is the only part of a story I offer the viewer, I task the viewer with filling in what may have happened before and after that shot. The photograph hints that something significant happened moments before the shot they are viewing—and that something equally, if not more, profound is about to happen. Like a movie poster, that single photograph's purpose is to artfully beckon the viewer to want to know more about the story's genesis and its coda.

When I present a series of photographs—as opposed to just a single image—to tell a story, it's similar to how a movie director might cobble together a storyboard to help bring a movie into existence. But instead of merely my own thoughts filling in the rest of the story, I invite viewers to use their imaginations to fill in what might be transpiring between each shot. A prime example of using a series of photographs to tell a story is a sci-fi-themed photobook I authored titled A Quiet Embrace: Norte, which served as my senior thesis for my BFA. 

The idea for the photobook sprung from two distinctly different global phenomena: one being the COVID-19 pandemic—a genuinely catastrophic crisis—and the other, the ubiquitous hullabaloo surrounding UFOs or what the military refers to as UAPs (unidentified aerial phenomena). The pandemic—a crisis exacerbated (if not directly caused) by bad human behavior—inspired me to ponder any alien's motive to visit our planet. It begged the question: "Would superior intelligence and greater technical knowledge preclude an alien species from having the same virtues, flaws, and desires that exist in human beings? Inspired in part by one of the darkest chapters in modern history—the COVID-19 pandemic—this thought exercise eventually coalesced into a photobook that chronicles the odyssey of a fictional alien visiting our fragile planet told through a chronological series of photographs. Figurative visual breadcrumbs that address questions concerning the alien's motive and agenda are left behind, leaving ample room for viewer interpretation. The other significant inspiration for the photobook comes from my long-standing fascination with the worldwide interest in the UFO/UFP phenomenon. Rather than believing that we are being visited by extraterrestrials, I am more intrigued by the notion that so many people believe such occurrences are actually taking place. Public interest in possible alien visitation has only intensified since the Pentagon released previously classified information regarding UFPs. And arguably, no other country's citizens are more receptive to the idea of extraterrestrial visitation than Chile's. Referred to as OVNIs (the Spanish acronym for UFOs [objet volant non identifé]) in Chile, UFOs are practically an obsession in Chile. And most of the Chileans I have encountered (all of my maternal family reside in Chile) not only believe in alien visitations—but claim to have actually seen UFOs!

Aside from the omnipresent belief in alien visitations, Chile proved to be the perfect backdrop for my photobook for another reason: its abundance of alien-looking landscapes. From the Valley of the Moon (named after its geological features resembling the moon's surface) located in the Atacama desert (the driest desert on Earth) to the frigid and majestic glaciers in Patagonia, Chile offers otherworldly panoramas, a feast for the eyes of any photographer or sci-fi fan.

In both 2022 and 2023, I traveled to Chile to research and take photographs for what would eventually become A Quiet Embrace: Norte. The challenging project involved complicated self-portraitures—shot with 35 mm black-and-white film. The undeveloped film was then brought back from Chile to New Brunswick to be developed at the darkroom studio at Mason Gross. An interesting challenge of note: Since I would not be developing the film until my return to New Brunswick, it was quite nerve-wracking—yet thrilling—not knowing how the photographs would actually turn out. Thankfully, the photographs came out as intended, and I eventually presented the completed photobook at Mason Gross Galleries.

Last year, several photographs from A Quiet Embrace: Norte were requested for an art exhibition at the Consulate of Mexico in New Brunswick, New Jersey, to commemorate the consulate's grand opening and celebrate its partnership with Mason Gross School of the Arts. The photographs were on display the entire school year (Fall 2023/Spring 2024). Another photograph from the photobook has remained in Rutgers University President Johnathan Scott Holloway's office since 2022.

My passion for cinematic photography goes a long way to explain my fascination with a subset of photography known as set photography—aka unit still photography. According to LinkedIn, "A unit still photographer … is a person who creates film stills, still photographic images specifically intended for use in the marketing and publicity of feature films in the motion picture industry and network television productions." For three seasons of M. Night Shyamalan's Apple+ television series Servant, I was a stand-in actor and body double for actor Tony Revolori. During this remarkable experience, I became well-acquainted with Servant's set photographer, Jessica Kourkounis. While on set, I had the opportunity to watch Ms. Kourkounis, as set photographer, deftly—and patiently—set up shots before expertly capturing exquisitely thought-provoking images with her trusty Sony a9 mirrorless camera. Having been drawn to the allure of photography since childhood, Ms. Kourkounis' photography work on set was the tipping point that persuaded me to study photography at Mason Gross School of the Arts.

As for future projects, I am planning a sequel to my photobook tentatively titled A Quiet Embrace: Sur. Unlike the first photobook—which took place in Chile's arid north—the sequel will take place in the lush southern Valdivian temperate rainforest, which is home to extraordinary flora (e.g., Nalca and Araucaria) and fauna (e.g., Darwin's Rhea and Pudu [the world's smallest species of deer]).

Once again, thank you for taking the time to visit my website!