In June of 2007, I left Budapest, Hungary after teaching there for six years. I began a “gap year” – one year off from teaching in order to explore a new career in freelance photography. I spent last fall visiting family in Colorado, California, Georgia, and D.C. I have been traveling abroad since December, taking photos in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Australia, India, and Pakistan. Early in my trip, I attended a 2-week photo expedition in Burma (Myanmar) with National Geographic and Magnum photographer Steve McCurry. The map above shows my destinations for this year, June 2007-July 2008. Blue squares are past destinations, green is my current location, and yellow are upcoming stops.
While travlling in India, I interviewed and accepted a job teaching elementary English (ESOL) at The American Embassy School in Delhi. (starting July 20, 2008). I plan to continue my photography business by offering travel photography workshops abroad, and photographing weddings each summer in the D.C. area.
Fishing on the beach at sunrise
Yoff, Senegal, West Africa (Dec 2006)
While I love travel and photography with a passion, I am looking for a way to make my travels more meaningful. The main purpose of my trip is to learn about the world so that I, as a teacher, writer, and photographer, can share my experiences and impressions with others. I want to do my small part, at the grassroots level, to increase understanding between people of different cultures.
Coptic Christmas
Cairo, Egypt (Jan 6, 2006)
Artist’s Statement:
I seek beauty in the real world and strive to share it with others. My favorite photos are ones where I’ve captured the essence of people and places in a way that shows them in their best light (both literally and figuratively). I love taking others, through my photography, to places they wouldn’t otherwise go. I want to use my photography to tell stories, giving a voice and an audience to people who may have neither.
I am fascinated by culture and how it defines who we are: how we think, feel, believe, and behave. I studied Multicultural Education as part of my Masters Degree in Education. I believe that the world is in dire need of understanding and appreciating one another across differences in race, religion, class, sexual orientation, and politics. I am also deeply concerned about the problems that face our generation and those to come. As a teacher, I strongly believe that education is the key to having any impact on the important issues that face us all.
I am particularly interested in issues related to poverty, the environment, religion, volunteer work, human rights (GLBT), and multicultural issues. I also enjoy photographing cultural events and festivals.
I would like to focus my work on positive solutions, inspiring others, and finding reasons for hope, in order to counteract the negativity and fear that we so often hear from our politicians and the media.
Sufi Dancers (Whiriling Dervishes)
Istanbul, Turkey (Oct. 2006)
Biography: My history in a nutshell:
I grew up in suburban Indianapolis and studied Elementary Education at Indiana University.
I did my student teaching in a cultural-immersion project on the Navajo Indian Reservation in New Mexico.
I taught elementary school for three years in Colorado.
I took a year off to travel and study Spanish in South America.
Since leaving the States in 1999, I’ve taught in three countries: Honduras, Holland, and most recently, Hungary. (As my brother says, I’m “working my way through the "H” countries.)
I got my Masters degree in Curriculum and Instruction, with an emphasis in ESL (English as a Second Language) and Multicultural Education from George Mason University in 2004.
I recently spent a few of months in Colorado with my aging parents, aged 78 and 82. Dad, who is partly deaf and blind, has also been diagnosed with Parkinson’s. .
I took advantage of this time there by learning to market my photography. I took various business classes at the Chamber of Commerce and at “Fine Print,” a local printer. I also joined the “Center for Fine Arts Photography” in Fort Collins, where I volunteered, took classes, and entered their monthly exhibitions. I had two photos in their “Member’s Show” which went up in mid-November (my first public exhibition!).
Summer daisies near Torres Del Paine
Patagonia, Southern Chile (Dec. 2002)
Since switching to digital seven years ago, I’ve taken nearly 40,000 photos. My favorite 17,000 are on my website. click here to see my photo webpage(Don’t be overwhelmed…just pick a country and take a virtual tour!)
I’m looking to meet other travelers, expats, and locals in the following areas:
My current plan for 2007-2008 :
August- U.S.A. (D.C., Savannah, Coloardo)
September – U.S.A. (NM, AZ, NV, and CA with my folks)
October – November – Colorado with my folks
Dec 7th – Gallery Walk: My first public exhibition. I have two photos at the members’ show, at the Center for Fine Arts Photography here in Fort Collins.
Dec 9h-12th – A stop to see friends in Berlin
Dec 12 – Jan 20th- Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos
Jan 20- Feb 2 – Burma for a photo workshop
Feb 3-March 3 – Australia for the Mardi Gras
March 4-March 31 – Indonesia
April 1-25 India – Mumbai & Delhi
April 25-May 11 Pakistan – Karachi and Lahore
May 11-May 23 Europe – Berlin and Budapest.
May 26 – June 2nd Savannah, GA with my sister.
June 2nd-June20th Silver Spring (D.C. area with my bro.)
June 20 – June 25 Maine
end of June – July 20th Denver with my folks
July 4th weekend – Saskatoon for Kim’s wedding.
July 20th- fly to Delhi for my new job in India
I am looking to collaborate with other aspiring and established writers, journalists, educators, artists, photographers, musicians, and business people who are also interested in using their talents for the purpose of educating, inspiring, and bringing hope to others.
I am looking for leads in the following areas:
story ideas
travel recommendations
photography grants
photo contests
exhibit space
publications
I am also looking for agents to market my work at home and abroad.
