My cameras have taken me a long ways. I started out as a stringer for the N.Y. Times and Newsweek in Mexico City back in the olden days and soon developed a list of clients in that town ranging from Volkswagen to Mexicana Airlines. Towards the end of my sojourn in Mexico I photographed for President Echeverria and ended up tagging along on many of his meetings with heads of other countries of Latin America. I had by that time established myself with a bevy of Mexican publishers as well.
While in Mexico, I traveled extensively throughout the Republic and visited every state, missing just one territory (Baja Sur). Belize, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua were also favorite spots. On one occasion, I was hosted by Mexicana Airlines on a flight to Paris, where I launched my photographic meanderings through Europe and North Africa. I got my culture shock over early when lost in the medina of Tangiers; after that I was good to go!
I believe I may also be the only one ever to ride a bicycle from the U.S. (Arizona) to Mexico City, a wild journey that took 31 days and more than one close call. (Guardian Angels deserve their wings!)
My days in Mexico were filled with opportunities and adventures and I not only learned the language thoroughly but learned to love the country and its people. Among some of the highlights were my photographing and experiencing a magic mushroom ceremony with the famous and beloved Maria Sabina, a Mazateca shaman in the then remote mountains of Oaxaca. (You’ll find a few black and whites from that experience here.) You’ll notice some pictures taken from within the jail of Teotitlan del Camino as well.
My two friends (NYT and Newsweek journalists) and I were thrown in there for the mere “crime” of wanting to go into the mountains. Of course the official charges were somewhat more imaginative. For some unknown reason, they allowed me to keep my cameras! The stay only lasted a few days fortunately, a much shorter time than that served by the mostly Indian population of the prison, but time enough to grab a few shots. I was also on hand for the Mexican answer to the Woodstock, called Avandaro for the location high in the mountains of Mexico State.
By that time,1971, Mexico had developed its own unique rock and roll scene and was ready to burst forth. Avandaro is what did it. Unfortunately, a very conservative government and press wanted nothing to do with it and it was defamed intensely as vile corruption and degeneration. Those who were there knew differently, as usual.
I taught math and English at a well-known girl’s academy for a couple of years as well, and still had time (and energy) to write a column on jazz for a well-known Mexican magazine and get heavily into stage and still photography for films. In my last years I developed and ran a professional color lab (E-6) that quickly became a popular call for many of Mexico’s top commercial photographers. One of my secret goals had been reached when I finally had an office on Paseo de la Reforma, the most prestigious avenue in the City.
Always fascinated with Mesoamerican culture, my girl friend (Virginia Ferrero) and I hitchhiked and photographed the entire Maya Route, through Campeche, Tabasco, the Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. Those were what they call “the days”.
After ten years in Mexico, I moved to San Francisco and began a stay of 17 great years in that gem of a city, using it as a base for travels all around the world but mainly the Pacific and Asia. As my career grew, I was elected to the board of the Pacific Area Travel Association and did even more traveling in the Pacific Rim countries. It was then that I won a chance at producing an audio-visual documentary of the island republic of Kiribati (pronounced kiri-bahss) way out in the South Pacific, one of the most unforgettable opportunities of my life!
Now I’m in Boise, Idaho, and loving it here. As you might imagine from this truncated history, I’ve been around and learned a lot. If you think you could profit from my experience and vision, please give me a call. If not, then enjoy the many photos on this site; they will help fill in the gaps for you. These are the places I’ve been and the people I’ve known!
(Beautiful signed and numbered prints of almost all my work are available. Put them on your walls!)
My cameras have taken me a long ways. I started out as a stringer for the N.Y. Times and Newsweek in Mexico City back in the olden days and soon developed a list of clients in that town ranging from Volkswagen to Mexicana Airlines. Towards the end of my sojourn in Mexico I photographed for President Echeverria and ended up tagging along on many of his meetings with heads of other countries of Latin America. I had by that time established myself with a bevy of Mexican publishers as well.
While in Mexico, I traveled extensively throughout the Republic and visited every state, missing just one territory (Baja Sur). Belize, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua were also favorite spots. On one occasion, I was hosted by Mexicana Airlines on a flight to Paris, where I launched my photographic meanderings through Europe and North Africa. I got my culture shock over early when lost in the medina of Tangiers; after that I was good to go!
I believe I may also be the only one ever to ride a bicycle from the U.S. (Arizona) to Mexico City, a wild journey that took 31 days and more than one close call. (Guardian Angels deserve their wings!)