I was born in the small town of Dwight, Illinois, which was a great place to grow up in back then - very much like the mythical Mayberry RFD. The outside world poked its head in only via limited TV coverage, and magazines. I was particularly taken by the amazing photojournalism of LIFE magazine, not only for the wild world it revealed, but the artfulness with which it did so.

Not knowing what I wanted to do with my life, I immersed myself into the art department in college, eventually concentrating on photography. I assumed I would go on to either teach or apply for grants supporting documentary photography, but serendipity took me to commercial photography and I have been working this way ever since. I feel very fortunate to have this career and I welcome assignments and creative collaborations.