BIO

Andrew was born just in time to catch the last few months of the ‘60s in California. Like many others from that time and place he doesn’t remember very much. He lived in Pasadena until 7th grade when his parents moved to Phoenix, Arizona. In that year he took his first photography course, using his father’s Nikon FM silver body. He quickly tired of not owning his own rig and, undoubtedly, his father was tired of wondering whether his camera was going to make it back from Junior High. So young Andrew asked his father, “Dad, what kind of camera should I buy?”

His father replied, as any conscientious parent would, “Son, we love you and whatever kind of camera you choose to be with is fine with your mother and me. Of course if it’s anything but a Nikon you can find a new family....”

So after tense weeks of calling shops a battered old FM black body turned up and Andrew spent his entire savings of $106.00 and gratefully accepted the 50mm f1.8 lens his father got him. Both are still in his bag and in use, even if, not too long after, Andrew was perusing the centerfolds of camera mags and popped the question every parent dreads hearing, “Dad...what’s a Leica?”

It being a question impossible to pawn off on mom, dad cleared his throat and said, “Umm, well, they say it’s the best 35mm there is, but they’re far too expensive.”

Andrew, happy and in love with his FM, confirmed Leica to be out of his immediate price range and filed the information away. He didn’t forget.

Well, then there was high school and a long love affair with a girl who’d grown up in exotic places and a family move to the midwest, college, grad school, the working world and a lot of travels by air, land and water and many great stories and adventures therein. But I’ll leave that to the other biographers.

The bonds of photography being as heavy as they are, Andrew is currently carrying on passionate affairs with a number of different bodies and systems, both film and digital. The FM, secure in its love, remains philosophical about the whole thing.