I began my military career as a computer programmer for the United States Air Force. After finishing four years on active duty, I transferred to the New Jersey Air National Guard. This is when I began working as a photojournalist for the Public Affairs Department while finishing college.
Once finished college, I moved to Delaware for a civilian career as a military photographer at Dover Air Force Base. There I was given the honor of photographing the somber Dignified Transfers for Air Force Mortuary Affairs. Many people are unaware of the Dignified Transfer mission at Dover Air Force Base. Until I was hired to work there, even I didn’t know about the mission and I am prior military.
Dignified Transfers are when fallen soldiers return from overseas. The term refers to the military movement when the Honor Guard transfers the fallen soldier(s) from the plane to the truck which will take them to the Mortuary Affairs Department. The photographs are taken for the family members and (when permission was granted) are also shared with news outlets.
There is more information about this sobering mission here: http://www.mortuary.af.mil/library/dignifiedtransfer/index.asp
Then I moved to Washington D.C. to work at the Pentagon for the United States Marine Corps in their Combat Camera section. I led a team of photographers and ran the photography studio. The mission at the Pentagon was very different from Dover. I photographed a lot of official headshots to include the Secretary of the Navy (Ray Mabus) and the Marine Corps mascot, Chesty Puller XIV.
I also photographed the Marine Corps Sunset and Evening Parades at Marine Barracks Washington, the home of the Commandant, and at the Marine Corps Memorial.
My military photography work has been featured on ABC News, Air Mobility Command, the Atlantic, US Air Force National Museum, Mid-Atlantic Police Motorcycle Riding Committee, 436th Airlift Wing, The CW, Associated Press, Marine Corps official website, WKYT, Persephone Magazine, Marine Barracks Washington, Florida Trend, The Albany Herald, The DC, Legistorm, and My Edmonds News.
Eventually, I moved to Lincoln, England to pursue a master’s degree in photography. While in Great Britain I explored Wales, Paris, London, the Dover White Cliffs, Whitby Abbey, the Peak District, and more.
Life in England was MUCH different than the US, but I loved the focus on gardens and wildlife living in the countryside provided. I had the opportunity to meet (and play with) meerkats, interact with hawks, hold owls, ride horses on the beaches of Wales, chase otters through a park, and drive through beautiful farm countryside full of livestock.
My cousin and I even got to zipline through underground mining caverns and jump on underground trampolines at Bounce Below!
My visa ended after a year and I decided to move back to my home state of New Jersey. When I came back to the US, I felt like I had reached my potential in the government and the confines of the rules and being unable to be more creative within their guidelines pushed me to start working for myself so I could explore and develop photography in different ways.
In high school, I always preferred photography as my medium and wanted to work for high fashion magazines, Playboy, or Hustler. At that time I only saw the nude form in museums or those magazines, I didn’t consider that they were ultimately male gaze/objectification based. (Although Playboy has developed and evolved quite a bit over the years!)
Initially, I photographed a lot of genres, but that youthful yearning to photograph the nude form was still there. I’ve always had an interest in confidence, sexuality, and self. I think it’s a large part of all of us and often women are shamed for being sexual or not being virginal/pure which is utter BS. The double standard is mind-boggling, to me.
So I decided to focus most on what always drew my interest: uplifting women and helping them explore and accept their sexuality/power/self in what I feel is a healthy and constructive way.
