Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.
- Epicurus (341-270 BC)

Collage Art Show Continued

As I stated before, along with the central Californian coastline, Italy had an immense impact on my photographic journey. My mother was born and raised in a very small island town, La Maddalena, off the coast of a larger island, Sardigna, floating in the middle of the Mediterranean. I included two images of Italy in my first art show. One being a snapshot of the crammed ancient towers of apartment buildings lining the wharf in La Maddalena and the second of a cascading waterway tucked in the city of Florence (Both Above).  I grew up visiting Italy making friends, learning the language and accepting the culture along with that which i was born with here in the United States. Many of us are fortunate to grow up with multicultural families, but for those who are not, I recommend taking a year off and living with another family as I had done. Your view on what is strange will be altered indefinitely.

Collgae Art Show Continued

I became interested in capturing foreign and domestic landscapes when I was in high school. Growing up I traveled back and forth to Italy to visit my mothers family. My first roll of black and white film was shot in Venice, Italy with my dad's 198_ Minolta. For my first photo assignment in school I shot the local landscape in Carmel. The location I chose was Point Lobos state park for its ridged beauty and everlasting popularity.

After high school I took a year off to study Portuguese in Brasil through the Rotary Youth Exchange program. With a Nikon F100 I kept my eyes open for inspiration. The following images were shot in Brasil, from North to South, and shown in the Collage Art Show.

Collage Art Show

In February of 2010 along with a painter, a dance photographer, a street photographer and a sculptor, I put on an art show in Santa Barbara, California. We named our show "Collage" in response to our diverse styles and visions coming together to create a night with artistic tastes.
For my first show I decided I would keep it to my first passion, Landscape Photography. My passion for landscape really came to blossom, I feel, because of my surrounding environment growing up. Living in Carmel, California, one cannot ignore the beauty that the land holds. I took some of my first images at Point Lobos State Park. And entered a few into my show along with some other landscapes I had taken abroad.