BIOGRAPHY
Photography has not been a lifelong passion of mine. My adolescent, teenage, and young adult life did not consist of constant artistic and creative endeavors, but I always knew that part of me existed. Whether is was drawing a comic book but never finishing, buying a guitar and only picking it up once, or singing in a men’s barbershop chorus for a season and moving away, these artistic tendencies were there but did not have an outlet I was passionate about. It was only a matter of time before I found something. Two years ago I found that outlet when I discovered the art of photography.
Growing up in suburban New Jersey provided me with a lot of opportunities as a kid and teenager. Much of my attention was given to outdoor hobbies like running, riding bikes, swimming in the lake, and playing sports with friends. My passion for playing sports outweighed many things and a lot of time was dedicated to them. Playing soccer and baseball resulted in getting to spend a lot of time with my father, who was also an athlete. He sacrificed a lot of his time practicing with me, coaching me, and traveling the country with me. Times when we were not doing something sports related, I helped assist him with his land surveying jobs on weekends. Winter or summer, rain or shine, we were out there working, and I loved every second of it. During all this time we spent together, we would share stories and talk a lot about sports, school, and life and after many years of this, I began to realize what direction I wanted to take my life in. I ultimately chose to go to school for engineering because I enjoyed math and science; civil engineering because it gave me the greatest opportunities to be outdoors in the future, where I truly felt happy.
My job kept me in close proximity to the city fortunately. Most days, whether I was on site or driving from job to job down the Turnpike, the Empire State Building and One World Trade Center were always somewhere to be seen. As a boy, every trip to New York City was special because it did not happen too often and made it partly mysterious to me due to its vastness. Nonetheless, I was always amazed by the city and now it was even more alluring because it was at my fingertips. The skyscrapers I once only saw in photos or from afar were now towering in front of me on a daily basis.
In May of 2018, my team and I had wrapped up the biggest project I was involved in to date. To admire our work, we decided we would take the man lift up 200 feet to get an aerial view of the site. It was a gloomy day and even though it was faint, having the ability to see the Manhattan skyline from up there over the Jersey City ridge was jaw dropping and inspiring. I did not know it at the time, but my life was about to take a turn in a new direction as soon as my feet got back on the ground. I later called my father and told him I needed to borrow his camera for work. He had collected a few camera bodies and was willing to lend me his Canon Rebel T6i. I did not know anything about anything when it came to DSLR cameras, but all I knew was it would allow me to get more meaningful photographs than any iPhone could. We ascended back to 200 feet a week later and that is when it all began. That same day, I walked down to the Hudson River waterfront and shot my first cityscape photograph.
Two years have passed and since then, I have invested a lot of time, interest, and passion into this constant but evolving hobby. Photography has become therapeutic for me. It is thought provoking and makes me think outside the box. It has taken me to many places I otherwise would not think to go to. It keeps me outdoors walking city streets and hiking trails. The planning that goes into ensuring I am in the right location at the right time, even running if I have to, having all the camera settings ready in my mind, and executing the shot, is always an adrenaline rush. I look back at photographs I captured when I was first starting out and I find myself critiquing them, wishing I knew what I know now. But then I think back to the actual moment I snapped them and remember the moments and memories that surround it. These moments are what got me where I am today and where it will get me tomorrow. It is a journey I am excited to go on and am optimistic about what it will bring. And as for my father, on top of sports, work, and life, we now get to share photography and to me that is something really special.
