I love the intimate engagement between the subject and the photographer in these images especially since they were all strangers at first. I also like the way the subject is gazing at the viewer it gives them an empowering sense and captures them as a subject rather than an object; their engagement makes them aware of the viewer; they are telling us something about themselves.

This is one of my favorite recent portraits; these guys were old friends and asked me to take their picture. Again and again they kept trying typical poses but I was able to capture this moment when they weren't fully aware of the camera. I like the layered composition and selective focus and I bounced my flash off the ceiling giving it a better quality of light than a typical snap shot. I also get a sense of their bond and life long friendship.

In this image I really like the character of these shoes. I feel like shoes and feet take on a life of their own but can say a lot about the wearer.

I took this at my friends studio apartment the other weekend. Its a nice image and then you see the decisive moment of the guy picking his nose. He only half woke for a moment and I was able to capture this image with out him even noticing.

I came across this when I was working on my last body of work. I find the mass of people engaging to wonder around in and the reflection of the man observing the crowded train adds another layer of depth and give it a more voyeuristic feel.

I like the simple composition and the engaging quality with the viewer. This kind of imagery will be influential in my more current work.

This image is of a single mother battling breast cancer; she did not have health insurance and her good friend, the man in the background, organized a benefit raising over five thousand dollars to help her with her medical expenses. I think this image has a good composition and has a narrative, documentary quality that I strive for.

Back to music I like this image for its strong dynamic composition and intense color.

In the past I have been a bit of an activist and photographed many events some were not that visually stimulating but I captured this image at an anti slavery event. Though there was not much to photograph I like the way this image combines words and images that make for and strong statement and the way the demand the viewers attention; its somewhat confrontational.

I love photographing concerts and performers and I really like the intensity and dynamism in this image.

This is a band I photographed some years ago. I think it is well balanced and I always find images of groups of people engaging. I also think I used the light well in this image.

I am currently working on photographing people mostly strangers but I thought I would share some older works along with some of my newer stuff. I really like the way I have captured the moment in this image and even the people in the background.

Garry Winogrand, Los Angeles, California 1969

I have always appreciated Garry Winogrand's ability, like Bresson, to capture the decisive moment. I chose this image because of the dramatic back lit figures with their sweeping dynamic shadows; they have been captured in a moment of action and the juxtaposition of the figures that seem to be coming from a shopping spree with those of the figures waiting at the bus stop and the man hunched over in the wheel chair seem to speak of a class struggle or at least a narrative commentary on the interaction of classes.

Jerry Uelsmann, Untitled 1977

Jerry Uelsmann, Untitled 1976

Jerry Uelsmann was one of the masters that inspired me early on. I could truly appreciate his craftsmanship in the darkroom in a time when advances in digital photography where making it easier for anyone with a computer to make similar composite imagery without the experience of a master. But despite the advances in digital software and even compared with some of the most skilled digital guru's Uelsmann's work (especially in person) is second-to-none.

Henri Cartier-Bresson's "Behind the Gare Saint Lazare" (1932)

Henri Cartier-Bresson, “Hyères, France, 1932″

Despite not being included amongst the masters on the masters-of-photography.com website though he should be I have also chosen Henri Cartier-Bresson as one of my favorite masters. I love the way he conceived of the decisive moment and was able to capture such fleeting moments so beautifully. And really masters-of-photography.com get it together Bresson is the man.