I'm different since Taipei.

That place put a spell on me, one I don't want to break.

I started my photography journey when I was 14 years old. At that time, I used whatever camera came my way, that is until high school graduation. That was the day my parents gifted me a Minolta X-7A. It was like a license to create, and create I did.

At that time, I was deep into photographing live music, my friends, scenes and situations. All I had to do was compose and push the shutter button to document what was going on in my world at the moment. I knew what I was doing (four years of photo courses did that to me) but there wasn’t much creativity involved. Most of the time I shot how I was taught.

1989 - early image with my gifted Minolta X-7A (film camera)

My birthday, 2007 - Nikon D50 (digital camera)

As you can see, the growth was there, but in actuality, my creativity was limited for many years.

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As I grew up, the photos I crafted landed in shoe boxes and binders. There were a few moments in time where I shot live music with slow-sync, did event photography, took a ton of product photography, and dabbled with vintage-looking TLR images that I captured digitally (more on that in another article one day). And after moving from the western United States, I moved to NYC and that’s when I began to hit the streets with a different mindset. Even though I was keen to shoot in Brooklyn, where my wife and I lived, I really enjoyed what I came across during my commutes into Manhattan. There was a shift in the way I shot, but nothing to really to take note of. I shot more digital square black & white imagery (and really dug it), and I still enjoy the images I made at that time.

Then we moved to Japan in 2017.

I was thrust into a place that was pretty overwhelming for me. Imagine going from a super cool city to one that was absolutely superinsanelyblowyourmind cool. Well, that was Tokyo for me. What did I do? I promptly started shooting all the things and all the places; Oh, the cliché shots of everything that we see on social media these days — those things, plus all the other stuff.

Again, I loved what I saw and knew exactly what I was doing. I wanted a true-to-life type of image to show the world. No heavy edits, just beautiful well-rounded photographs.

I moved on to night scenes because I found Tokyo to be incredibly vibrant (still do). My style of composition remained (still does) and I enjoyed finding scenes that were new to me and making images that were compelling and interesting. And then, COVID hit. We were sort of stuck inside, but it was nice knowing we could go out to do certain things. Tokyo didn’t have a lockdown, but we all did our part to stick close to home, if not stay indoors for days.

It was at this time that I rediscovered film photography. I was bored, so I thought taking on that old medium I knew from decades ago would be life changing. Well, it was. My photo world changed immensely and I began developing and scanning my film at home. Shooting with film has been a game changer and I had a really good time finding cameras and certain film stocks that fulfilled my need for crafting what I wanted.

I never gave up shooting digital imagery, but it took a back seat to film sometimes. My color digital images weaved their way in and around my socials, gallery shows, self-published books, and popups. But something was happening. I started diving deep into photography from the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s. I dug the vibrance, the flatness or depth, the grain (some stocks with a ton of it and some with barely any of it). I was in a trance. And as you may have figured out, those film stocks aren’t made anymore. So frustrating. I wanted to create similar work and styles!

Then I went to Taipei.

I brought one camera, the Leica Q. That rig had a 28mm lens and its glass is practically unbeatable, in my opinion. I placed a black diffusion filter on the lens and set out with determination. Off to create cool work! I was in another wonderland, but one with more intense grit and grime. It was grime time. I explored the back streets with an intense need for discovery, not just what was literally around the corner, but metaphorically.

I usually edit all my images on my computer, but I didn’t bring it to Taiwan, so I transferred images from the camera to my phone and edited from that device. It was at this point, I basically said “Fuggit. I’m going to go off on all these edits!”, and so I did. I brought a bit of that ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s film vibe to the world via my digital camera, my vision, and my I-don’t-give-a-shit-what-people-think-about-all-this mentality.

The following images were NOT edited on my phone, but they are some selects that I truly love.

At this point, I recognize that Taiwan changed me. It shifted how I find images and how I craft them for the world. Now I have a new-to-me style. I’ve found a style that motivates me, too. I look forward to finding scenes that might be spooky, dreamy, or mysterious. And maybe even fun. Heaven forbid.

So when you see images that I’ve made in the last day, week, month or year, you can thank Taipei and a vision from the pre-2000s film era. (the 1900s as the kids say these days.)

I’ll leave you with an image that I’ve done the usual work to, but note that one is edited and one is not. The unedited version is the style I may have shot and edited for the last 35 years and the second is me now. And you know what? I like me now.