J: The Little Jalapeño Who Thought He Could - Limited Edition 3 of 25 Photograph

I've had strong artistic inclinations from an early age. Music has been one of my great pursuits thru my university days. At that time my interest in photography began. My first B&W photos were still life attempts and night time shots of architecture at UNM. Years later I became interested in exploring studio photography of objects, then began working with people. Photographing the human form was of great interest to me and I began selling cards featuring my photographs almost as soon as I began this genre. Two years later I was offered a solo exhibition of this work, which was greeted with acclaim. That same year, 1994, I began my career as a full-time photographer and that has been my occupation since. I have continued to include fine art work along with my commercial endeavors, just as the artists of the middle ages, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods did.In fact, most of these artists would not have made a distinction between the two. In my fine art work with objects and the landscape I am interested in the passage of time, of being and existence. Many of my still lifes could be called 'Zen' images, a term I am attracted to. With my landscapes I tend to respond to starkness more than color and lushness. This suits the area I have lived most of my life: the high desert environment of New Mexico. I also enjoy creating photo montages, often incorporating multiple images as a sequence or other sort of relationship. With my still lifes I have often photographed objects that have faded, or are completely dried up. They have not lost their beauty and interest for me, or even their 'life', but still contain powerful spirits in themselves.