ARTISTIC STATEMENT
I don't believe that I am hired because I’m the best technician. I believe I’m hired because of how I conduct myself and the artistic perspective from which I work. My life experience has mostly been among people and places that are typically overlooked. It has become a cliche to say that one sheds light into darkness. That is not quite what I am doing. I do not find beauty alongside ugliness. Rather, I find that ugliness is the beauty. The dark corners of the human condition are actually brilliant and rich with texture. Many of the most interesting and funny people I have known were also the most dysfunctional and self-destructive. My task is to allow the audience to see what I see. There is an alchemy to making our most painful experiences valuable to someone else through storytelling like turning lead into gold. Life is a beautiful struggle.
My creative style has become fairly defined at this point. My guiding principle is to foster an empathetic connection between the subject and the audience. When I’m shooting, I often frame the subject within barriers in the environment. By letting the world wrap around the subject, I create a relationship between the two. I often utilize planar camera movement to create a sense of presence within the space for the viewer. I often find reflections, shadows, or create soft blooms of reflected light within a frame as a sense of spiritual aura. This is a way of outwardly representing the interior life of the subject. Also, I try to consider the geometry of the negative space to help set the tone for the shot. However, the story will tell me what the style choices should be. It is my job to listen to the moment. I must be flexible based on what I am being told by the characters, environment, and constellation of restrictions held in every situation. It is my creative sensibilities that govern my reactions to these situations which make my work distinct and recognizable.
Above everything else, I work by a few virtues which I believe define the professional. I strive to always present a positive attitude about hard work. Every decision is guided by what is best for the project. The needs of the budget, schedule, content, cast, and craft are privileged over my personal ego or creative choices. I take the leadership role of a department head very seriously. It’s my goal to get everyone on set functioning with their best energy towards the common goal of serving the project. Collaboration is a valuable skill, and compromise is a virtue. The shared experience of accomplishing the job is my work product just as much as the deliverable of my footage.
Every job is different, but my values remain consistent.