Art is my heritage.  I credit my grandfather, an artist who painted murals for the Cuban railroad in the 1950’s, for instilling this love of art.  I was raised in southern Cuba amidst tools, heavy machinery and art supplies.  My father was a welder at the local sugar mill and my mother owned a garage that serviced commercial trucks.  Fascination with people, machines and paintbrushes was an integral part of my childhood.  Although formally trained as a psychologist and educator, my aspirations have remained focused on art and photography throughout the years. 

While working as a school psychologist in Saudi Arabia in the 80’s, I met Jim Doran, a National Geographic photographer. He became my mentor, turning what started as a hobby in underwater photography into a career as an industrial photographer.  My challenge was creating artistic imagery for the annual reports of Fortune 100 corporations.  In 1996 fate again intervened, prompting my family’s move to Catalina Island.  I continued working commercial assignments and began capturing the natural beauty of Catalina for Bill Wrigley and the Santa Catalina Island Company.  Creating beauty shots of the Catalina landscape was such a sharp contrast to making heavy industry look like art.  The 90’s were also a time of diversification into the fine art market and healthcare.  I signed a publishing deal with the Winn Devon Art Group who sold my fine art imagery through galleries. I also founded Catalina Curtain Company, which has incorporated nature vistas into healthcare settings in over 2,500 facilities worldwide.  My photography is part of the Curator’s Collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and currently on exhibit in the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History in Washington DC.

I feel fortunate to still live on Catalina Island.  My love affair with the island began in the 70’s when I was a Junior in high school.  I was certified in SCUBA and came to dive on the island during the Spring Break of 1972.  It was love at first sight and that feeling of wonder on seeing the island for the first-time lives in me still. I went on to spend my college summers running the dive shop on the pier, and in 1977 got my first teaching job at Catalina Island School in Toyon Bay.  For the past 25 years my wife and I have lived on Catalina Island, firmly cementing it as “home” in our hearts.  We have raised our children here, both graduates of Avalon High School.  As a trained naturalist, I now endeavor to share my love of the island with others by serving as a volunteer Ranger for the Catalina Conservancy.  Catalina continues to inspire in me a curiosity to delve deeper into the essence of the magic that has attracted thousands of artists and musicians over the years.  I have tried to capture this magic in my new series “The Winter Light of Catalina” and hope that you enjoy these images as much as I have loved creating them.