Professional musician, alternate process photographer, former scientist
Growing up, I started playing the trumpet in 5th grade, and around the same time developed a fascination with science. The two interests coexisted well for a while, with music taking a back seat while I went to college and later graduate school in molecular biology. But then music took over in a very powerful way and I quit halfway through my Ph.D. to move to New York City and become a professional musician. I can’t say I have any regrets, as my musical career is doing quite well and I’ve played with a lot of the biggest stars in Western music.
Photography, too, has been with me my whole life. My father worked for Polaroid for most of my school years, and as he was in R&D we got to beta-test all the new cameras and films that were being produced. Unfortunately, although we got all of this for free, we did have to return everything, including the pictures. I find it amusing to think that somewhere there is a warehouse with hundreds of pictures of 11-year-old me.
For many years photography lay dormant within me until a few years ago a friend of mine, who I met on a music forum but who is actually more of a photographer, reignited the photography bug within me. After that it was a very rapid progression backwards in the history of photography, as I started with a DSLR (a Canon 60D) then got my first film camera (Canon Canonet) followed by my second, third, and 7th, and finally started to develop and scan my film at home. Don’t be surprised if I start making my own prints soon!
Equipment:
- Sony a7S
- Zeiss 55mm f/1.8
- Canon 60D
- Canon 50mm f/1.8
- Sigma 18-50mm f/3.5-5.6
- Canon 55-200mm f/3.5-5.6
- Canon Canonet QL17
- Ciroflex Model D
- Contax T
- Graflex Ciro
- Holga WPC120
- Kodak Brownie Autographic No.2
- Minolta SR-T102
- Minolta 50mm f/1.7
- Minolta 58mm f/1.4
- Soligor 70-150mm f/4.0
- Zexnar 28mm f/2.8
- Olympus XA
- Pentax ME Super / Pentax ME Super Program
- MIR 20mm f/3.5
- Pentax 50mm f/1.7
- Kalimar 28mm f/2.8 Macro
- Polaroid Automatic 100
- Polaroid SLR680