Most of my photo assignments are to document historic buildings and structures, as part of a team effort that often includes architects, historians, surveyors, engineers, and cultural resource specialists. These assignments require that my photos be straightforward, clear and concise, with detailed captions. Many of my projects have been done to the standards of the Historic American Building Survey, or the Historic American Engineering Record (HABS/HAER). In Seattle, I often work under the direction of BOLA Architecture + Planning, while in Alaska, many of my projects have been with Northern Land Use Research.
My personal work is more playful, more concerned with visual qualities, and less dependent on captions. At the same time, it is also an exploration of the photo documentary process. My art is “about documentary” – I want to see what photographs can depict. I like unruly photographs that resist easy interpretation. I like oblique views that reveal more (or less) than they were supposed to. Some of these photographs are in the collections of the Museum of the North at the University of Alaska, the Alaska State Museum, and the Anchorage Museum.