About

I am not a professional photographer, but I have been taking black and white photographs for most of my life. As a research interventional cardiologist, I lecture internationally. (My head shot is from a conference in Seoul, Korea.) As can be seen from the titles, most of my photographs are taken during my various international travels although some are from merely walking in my neighborhood. When I carry my camera, it forces me to look more critically at my surroundings. My favorite photographs are the "Still Lifes" - ordinary objects that become extraordinary when photographed and presented "out-of-context." (Parenthetically, my artistic eye is very useful during my research into the clinical utility of new cardiovascular imaging technologies.)

My camera is an old, heavy, manual, classic Canon F-1, 35mm, single lens reflex film camera. I am now working with my second Canon F-1. The first one, a gift from my parents, finally died after 30+ years of use. I found an almost mint replacement on Ebay. The film is Ilford XP2. The photographs are taken hand-held - even at shutter speeds as slow as 1/8 second - in natural light using a 55mm f1.4 or f1.2 lens. Almost all of photographs are full-frame negatives; only a rare one is cropped. I believe that this very basic approach to photography allows me to get closer to my subjects than would a digital camera and provides a balance to my high-tech professional career. Plus, I enjoy the anticipation of waiting to see the results and select critically among them - a pleasure that has disappeared in our world of instant gratification.