My Interest

I began taking pictures at an early age using my father’s 35mm camera.  This continued through high school and then was “put on the shelf” through college and early working days.


Being an environmental engineer, I was exposed to the wonders of our national parks and the natural environment.  My early photographic efforts were focused in these areas, and continue today.


As a retired environmental engineer I began photographing jazz musicians at Durham’s Know Bookstore in 2004, the main subject being the late Brother Yusuf Salim.    The intensity with which Brother Yu and the local musicians played jazz enabled me to capture human emotion in its purest form.   The jazz program directors at North Carolina Central University (NCCU), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), and Duke University gave me access to performances where I photographed some of the great jazz artists of our time.  I have had jazz photography exhibits at the Mary Lou Williams Center at Duke in 2005, North Carolina Museum of History in 2008, NCCU Jazz Festival in 2010, and UNC’s Ackland Museum in 2012.  The latest exhibit was in 2016 in conjunction the NCCU Jazz Festival.