It felt like my body had been cut in half… 

Looking across the white bedsheets, I could see the outline of my legs and feet, which suggested that they were still there. 

Yet, when I wiggle my left toes, there was no movement. No matter how hard I try - nothing. They lie there completely still… 

I was fresh out of a corrective brain surgery, which removed the part of my brain that had caused daily seizures over the past 20+ years of my life.  

That part of the brain was also responsible for the motor function of the left side of my body. To get back on my feet, literally and figuratively, I had to re-learn how to eat, sit, and walk… 

The brain surgery felt like a rebirth, and among the things that have been transformed, my approach to photography and art was one of them. 

Want to know more about how large-format photography helped me get back on my feet? Read the whole story on my About page. 

When I woke up I had the feeling like my body and mind had been cut in half. Brain surgery resulted in the left side of my body being dead and lifeless. Only time would tell if I would properly regain my original strength. My mind was slow, as if it didn’t work properly. I could not form thoughts or speak correctly.

I felt like my body had been cut in half. Brain surgery resulted in my left side being completely dead and lifeless.

These lips, arms, legs, fingers, and toes were mine. I could see that they were attached to me, but despite desperate concentration - they lie still.

I was one of those kids who would loved to play video games so much that I would forget to eat. I was too young to remember, but they told me I would be crawling up the basement stairs of my aunt’s house after an all day play session, begging to be fed. Only to go back down in isolation to run and jump and save the princess from being caught by King Koopa.

Who I am today is the result of having the freedom to explore nature and play without supervision or structure. My parents let me run wild for the most part, only reigning me in when I ran into danger or crossed a set boundary. And this led me to become a little rebellious and defiant even before my teens.

The wind is cold in San Francisco, but it was an especially cold winter in early 2023. After weeks of constant downpours, the winter winds blew up a fierce storm. Giant clouds populated the city sky, signaling the epilogue of the wicked storm passing over the peninsula.

The first time I photographed with glass plates, I knew I wanted to make a portrait of my wife. Near our apartment, at the top of a hill is a tree that grew almost perfectly horizontal on the steep slope. We walk by it often as it is within viewing distance of the path in the park. However, it took me almost 3 years to make a photograph here because of both the strange shape and the rough terrain. However, I knew there was great potential in a photograph here. When I got a hold of my first glass plate holder for my 8x10 inch camera I knew this would be the place to take my first glass plate negative. The sun was just starting to come through the clouds and peeking through the leavings, you can see the light glow on the surface of the glass in the picture.

While I was growing up, my family lived in the east SF Bay Area. We frequently visited this beach. Known as, “China Beach” when we made our yearly get away to the city. At age 13, I stood on these rocks with my family and we took photographs together for our Christmas card. We had a blue jeans and white T-shirt theme. Our feet were soaked with the icy sea water while our smiling faces piercing the camera lens. The air was cold as always in San Francisco, but the chill in the air did not prevent us from having a fun and memorable time.