Gallery

Walks of Life

March 15 – April 12, 2007 Captiva Civic Association Sanibel-Captiva Islands, Florida

I appreciate all walks of life thanks greatly to my Dad, Rusty. The beauty in different cultures, foreign lands, travel, and nature is a passion shared with my family and in particular with my Dad. It is that beauty in nature and travel that inspires me to capture those images in photographs. My interest began as a young child wanting to do what Dad was doing, aligning myself next to him, mirroring my movements to capture the same shots he was; my film was imagination capturing images with my toy camera. As I grew, so did my equipment. In high school I bought my first SLR camera. I took a class which taught dark room developing and techniques. I began to understand and plan composition of photos. By my senior year, my camera had become an appendage.

A full-time college student studying business management and entrepreneurship, I take every opportunity I have to travel and every chance I get to be behind my lens. I have photographed weddings, capturing people on this most important of days; I have captured shots at family reunions, when generations meld and overlap and there is the sense that these images will preserve the people against time; and I have taken pictures of folks in different cultures when a language barrier prevents spoken communication but the images allow us to converse. On occasion I have been fortunate enough to travel with my Dad, further instilling the passion to see and meet new places and people. Photographs tell a story; they capture moments in time, preserving the truth of the contents. It is a powerful tool to share, inform, and inspire people.

I first came to Fort Myers Beach as a young boy to visit my aunt and uncle in the summers. It was during these visits that I found my lifelong love of the sea. The photographic images I captured from that love stayed with me as I grew into a young man. I worked on head boats and dive boats gaining the experience necessary to earn my U.S. Coast Guard Ocean Operators Captains license. This time at sea allowed me access to the water and helped feed my love of nature.

After graduating from LSU, I moved to Fort Myers Beach and ran a commercial boat for six years before marrying and taking a land based job on Sanibel, where I have worked for the past 25 years. Sherry is the eldest of my two daughters and shares my enthusiasm for travel and photography. Love of photography, nature, and travel have taken me to majestic places such as Africa, Australia, Alaska, Costa Rica, Panama, and the Galapagos Islands. A camera has always been a favorite travel companion and ally to bridge relationships and host profound appreciation. Sharing photography and travels with Sherry has nurtured an even stronger father-daughter bond to an already solid relationship. Through our shared appreciation and love of photographing life we have developed a unique ‘eye’ that captures images and tells stories that illuminate the beauty which is acquired from all walks of life.