About I've been into art ever since I was a kid. I enjoyed drawing and painting. I got excited whenever I received new art supplies -- crayons, markers, paints, brushes, pencils. I never thought I would grow up to be an artist, but instead a doctor, lawyer or engineer, someone my parents would be proud of. But somehow my life's journey kept leading me back to art, even when I purposely veered into other directions. I had an inkling that art would be a part of my life forever. In grammar school winning the third place ribbon in an art contest was what I was most proud of. An emphasis was placed on academics and athletics and I learned to believe that success in these would lead to going to good schools and a stable career. Even though that ribbon was not blue, I discovered I was actually good at something. Similar things happened during the rest of my education. In high school I took all the art classes I could, which meant a lot to me. I have always been a quiet person, and like many others, used art as a means to express myself. In college, I began developing my artistic style. I drew, painted, sculpted, even worked on a short video. It was awesome and I was having a great time. During my last quarter of college, I decided to take an introduction to photography course as an elective. Little did I know that this would become a passion. I practiced shooting with my first SLR camera, processed my own black and white film, and made my own prints. This amazed me! When I painted I relied on my emotions to guide my brushstrokes. This could be time-consuming. Photography gave me instant gratification. Light became my palette and my camera became my paintbrush. The frame was now my canvas. I enjoyed it a lot. When I was taking graduate courses, I tried to challenge myself as much as possible but felt a bit overwhelmed. I had classmates who were shooting for years and years, and who were schooled in a four-year undergraduate photography program. I only had a few months experience at that time. Nonetheless, I quickly learned about toning, shooting with medium format cameras, studio lighting, using color film, presentation techniques, and alternative processes. It's funny that I reluctantly took on digital photography. I thought I would be an "old school" photographer and tried to avoid going digital as much as I could. But I eventually turned to digital, and today it's hard to believe I'd stick with film. Now I only shoot digitally.   ARTIST STATEMENT (from art school) As an artist, I create to share my world. I find that society constructs obstacles that hinder each person from understanding another person. Art transcends these obstacles and seeks to join people, to allow them to comprehend their reality. I make art to communicate my thoughts and feelings. I feel the need to share my perspective of the world to come to a greater meaning of my purpose here on earth. The medium that I use is integral to this goal. I chose to photograph, to capture reality and present it in a new and unique way. The process is analogous to personal growth and the ever changing landscape of my reality. And the techniques of photography, old and new, only add fuel to my creative energy.   EXPERIENCE Photo Editor AOL/Digital City, 2002-2003 Contributing Photographer Here is New York: A Democracy of Photographs, 2001-2002 Group Photography Show Basement Gallery, UC Davis Art Building, 1998