Ten Best Images of 2016

I draw much of my photographic inspiration from the little moments the world gives me.  I live for bits of magical time. Moments like these hammer on the wall of reality. The cracks created from this force opens a door to a world of surreal reverie. These types of images play on the human soul in the same way a guitar cord vibrates of the hands of a skilled musician. They can bring tears to your eyes or transport your emotions to a place far away. 

 

Bassist - 6th Street, Austin, TX - SXSW

Bassist - 6th Street, Austin, TX - SXSW

Cheerleaders - Milan Pusker Studium - WVU vs Oklahoma Football

Cheerleaders - Milan Pusker Studium - WVU vs Oklahoma Football

Club Dancer - 6th Street, Austin, TX - SXSW

Club Dancer - 6th Street, Austin, TX - SXSW

Musician - Hilary Kay - Wellsburg, WV - WVU Bluegrass Band

Musician - Hilary Kay - Wellsburg, WV - WVU Bluegrass Band

The past few years have marked a move in my photography from purely representational image making to a more motivated exploration of the constructed image. The natural place for this study has been with the portrait. Whether in the studio, the subject’s natural environment, or capturing someone in one perfect moment of light, making this type of work challenges my natural introvert tendencies and force me to engage with my subjects

From Top Left: Matthew Byrd, Karen Culcasi, Kate Lewis, Marc Besch, Paul Raines, Leslie Boorhem-Stephenson

Haunted Campus for WVU Magazine

These images images where made to tell the story of a little girl that haunts on of the buildings on West Virginia University campus: “It is believed that an 8-year-old girl named Sally attended a party at Reynolds Hall, where the Mountainlair is no…

These images images where made to tell the story of a little girl that haunts on of the buildings on West Virginia University campus:

 

“It is believed that an 8-year-old girl named Sally attended a party at Reynolds Hall, where the Mountainlair is now, at the turn of the 20th century and had a wonderful time dating around in her Victorian dress. Sadly, not long after this, she died in a typhoid outbreak. She was buried in a cemetery on the site of Stewart Hall. The graves are now in the East Oak Grove Cemetery.

 

Over the years, facilities workers have reported seeing a blonde girl in a yellow dress dancing in the hallways of the Mountainlair and the second floor of Stewart Hall."  

Guarding the Tomb

Every year that soldiers prepare Arlington National Cemetery for Memorial Day, Capt. Andrew McDaniel tries to be the one to put a flag on his grandfather's grave. Follow McDaniel, a West Virginia University alumnus, and his fellow soldiers as they put flags int he graves at the cemetery.
Capt. Trevor Gingrich has to be precise in dress, marching, speech, everything. Precision is required when you're a platoon leader at Arlington National Cemetery. Watch how he works at a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

It’s in the eyes.....

These images are a decade old. I shot them in 2006, during the height of George W. Bush’s presidency.  I remember feeling a certain bit of hope when I covered protests like this one. I was inspired by witnessing people from various backgrounds come together to form a collective voice for a more inclusive and peaceful America.   These photographs focus on the faces and eyes of the protesters, to strip away the veneer that people use to mask themselves. In their expressions, I see hope and passion.