It wasn’t until I moved to New York City to attend Pratt Institute that I fell in love with photography. Paul McDonough, my first photography teacher introduced me to street photography. I was instantly infatuated with the earliest street photographers in Paris like Atget and Henri Cartier–Bresson, to the American beat photographers such as Robert Frank, Garry Winnogrand, to Helen Levitt and Joel Meyerowitz. I admired the candid and frank nature of their photographs. How they depicted the unorchestrated irony and subilties of daily life. Like tiny reflections on aspects of society, these photographers held up the mirrors to show us back our world. I loved the power that these photographs held and that I had the freedom to simply pick up my 35 mm Canon AE-1, step outside and the world was my canvas; full of so many different people with so many different stories to tell.
Street photography was my earliest influence—but photojournalism and documentary photography also became interests to me for the ability to document and tell stories. When I moved to Hartford to finish up my degree at University of Hartford, I received the Sal Lopes & Herb Ascherman Grant and invested in a large-format 4 x 5 field camera. With this camera, my work changed in pace and style. In taking this more intimate look at my subjects, within and among the details I discovered an unexpected power and beauty in the more poised details to tell a story.
Documentary, portraits, and lifestyle are among my favorite genres of photography, but my professional credits also include architectural, editorial, and music photography. As an artist, I continue to explore fine art photography & the art of the book making.
Aside from my art, I love going on adventures and meeting new people (who I usually end up wanting to photograph). Indie films, music, running and yoga are some of my favorite activities. Aside from the concrete jungle, being outdoors is where I feel at home. I grew up in Connecticut with a family garden shop passed down two generations from my Italian great-grandfather. This installed a love for plants, animals and the earth deep inside of me. I am constantly cooking up new veggie and vegan dishes in my spare time and on an endless quest for new succulents to complete the fortress of terrariums in my house.