I've embraced taking pictures because I can't draw or play an instrument. It's taken a long time and a lot of shooting to realize how important images are to me. Photography has always been a strange art form. For a long time I fell into the trap of feeling like photography was a lesser art because it relied on resources beyond the artist's control. I've since become fascinated with it for the exact same reason. Taking pictures helps me feel connected to a larger network. Drawing and writing always felt a little embarrassingly self-involved. While it's easy to look at what I've produced and consider them personal aesthetic victories, I'm often humbled, and occasionally frustrated, when I remember that it's others' invention and (mis)fortune that provides me with the opportunity to be creative. Photographing is a bizarre intersection between journalistic description, painting and found sculpture. It isn't quite something from nothing the way sculpting marble is, but it certainly is creation. A weird artistic voice that sometimes feels stolen and sometimes feels truer than poetry. That is, however, part of its appeal. You can be impartial observer, aesthetic creator, and social commentator all at once, and all in a fraction of a second. I borrowed my father's Nikon film camera for a photography class in high school in 2000, bought my own Ricoh from a thrift store the year after, and was given a Cannon Rebel as a hand-me-down in 2006. I haven't been trained much, but studying under John Free at Pasadena City College has given me a standard to judge myself against for…probably the rest of my creative life. I currently live in Glendale. I'm making an effort to explore photographic dialogue, so if you are interested in purchasing an image or sharing ideas, I'm very open to discussion. To request prints, hire me, or organize a shoot, email me at snrincognito@gmail.com More of my pictures can be found at my Picasa acount.

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