Thank You is a body of work that explores the complex relationship between my artistic practice and my role as a community college photography professor from 2010-2025. The first project, Demo Roll, is a collection of photographs that I’ve shot to demonstrate film processing for students in an entry level darkroom class. The ritual of shooting a demo roll at the start of each semester forced me to make images that I otherwise would not have taken, resulting in an archive of photographs that document personal aspects of my life during a formative time for my family.

Darkroom Trash is an archive of silver gelatin photographs that I have pulled from a trashcan after teaching an intro to darkroom photography class. These prints have been tossed away at an unfinished stage, partially developed and still wet from chemicals. As a result, the salvaged photographs have dramatic shifts in color, and are often stuck together in the form of a collage. Woven into this series are a set of coating stations that were used by students in an alternatives processes class to coat paper with light sensitive photographic emulsions, such as Cyanotype and Van Dyke Brown. The pattern of drips and streaks on the matboard below come together to form abstract expressionist works that continue to evolve over time as the chemicals embedded in the fabric of the board is exposed to light. 

And finally, Gifts from Students is a series of still-lifes depicting some of the tokens of gratitude I received from my students over the years. These objects highlight the unique relationship that can sometimes form over the course of a semester, or years, between a student and a mentor. Many of the gifts I’ve received are not included here, either because they were tough to photograph, or because I no longer have them. But they are not forgotten. For those gifts, and the ones pictured here, I thank you!