Bio

I am sansei. In my culture that means my grandparents all immigrated to the United States from Japan. As a child, I discovered a box filled with photographs and medals from my father’s WWII service. He served in combat in the U.S. Army’s much decorated, all Japanese American 442nd Regimental Combat Team. That box was the seed of my interest in the relationships between photography, memory, and the way that race, culture and society manifest themselves in the landscape.

Embarked on studies of economics in college and searching for my future, I hopped freight trains, drove taxicabs, and I realized that I seemed to carry a camera everywhere. In 1978, I earned a BFA from the University of Colorado and, in 1985, a MFA in photography from Arizona State University. After a brief move to New York City, I returned to Phoenix where, for 33 years, I taught photography and digital imaging at Glendale Community College. I retired from teaching in 2020.

I am currently a member of the Eye Lounge, a 23-year-old artists collective in Phoenix. I live in Phoenix with my wife, Teri, and a dog.

CV

Complete title list for my submission to Photolucida’s Critical Mass 2024 (PDF).

News

Here is a link to a PDF (14.2 MB) with a lot more news and a description about my process.

I went to Medium Photo 2024, which was my first portfolio review. I had twenty-minute reviews with 13 industry professionals. I shared Veiled Inscriptions, my project-in-progress, and was pleased with some very supportive conversations. I’m still trying to process all that happened there, so I’ll make some better notes and add to this later. For now, this picture Teri made of me at the open portfolio review will have to suffice.

I’ll end here with this: in early 2024, Cindy Lee, filmmaker and my dear friend, connected me with Julian Saporiti, an Asian American musician / sound artist, and his project, No-No Boy. For a little taste of joy and sorrow, give Julian and The Best G*d**mn Band in Wyoming a listen.