bear with me as I babble.
So, I was born in Bradley Beach, NJ and lived within blocks of the "Jersey Shore" most of my life.
At 16 my father became ill and we moved to Ft. Lauderdale, FL for about 2 years, After high school I "Ran Away" and moved to NYC living on the streets for a while, till I met Mitch Hippy who invited me to take one of the empty apts. in the landlord abandoned brownstone where he lived. RENT FREE. the folks in the bldg. bought the property from the city for the back taxes and we co-opped. I was living the hippy life on the lower east side of NY. most of my friends were either stage crew or bouncers at the places like the Fillmore East and the Anderson theater, which meant I got backstage and met the biggest names in rock music in the 70's. After my good friend Mitch was knifed to death in front of me for stealing some other bikers wheels. I moved back to NJ. I went back to school to Brookdale CC and took courses in media and TV & radio production which I hated. (too much paperwork not enough hands on). The school did have a very nick color & B+W darkroom so I took some Photo journalism and creative photo courses as I did some photo work for my HS news paper and liked it.
The teacher (Carroll Siskind - a former Life Photographer) convinced me to quit BCC and attend a photography school. I attended The Germaine School of photography in NYC and won several awards for my work.
After graduating I started working in a mid-town photo house. as a assistant photographer. Eventually I moved up and headed my own department as specular items (glassware, silverware and jewelry). The shop I worked for eventually closed due to the death of the owner. I was sick of life in NYC so I started my own studio specializing in head shots and portfolios for kids and teens for a talent management agency.
In the mean time I had always been interested in electronic gadgets and computers.
