The Early Years…

Thank you for visiting my site, I hope this brief section serves as a small ice breaker of sorts. I don’t really like to talk about myself to be quite frank, but I know that sometimes it is important to be candid and raw even if for a brief moment. I’m usually the storyteller behind the camera showcasing the stories and now here I am telling a bit of mine. I want to keep this very informal and “unscripted” and real and in order to do so I have to be a little personal. I suppose we can start with a brief summary of the beginning. I was born in Romania during the Cold War.

Those early formative years in Romania were very pivotal for my artistic inspiration and philosophical side especially the older I get in retrospect. My grandparents were able to get my family to leave Romania after a difficult struggle and under threat of punishment by the Communist government there at the time. We left in 1988 the year before the Civil Revolution came to pass.  We took the train to Italy and bounced around Europe before finally getting sponsored to come to the U.S.

I arrived in NYC first and we took the greyhound to Big Bear Area in Southern California. It was tough to go from a culture of a European city to an American city in the high desert in CA in the 1980’s. The acclimation period was difficult, but me being young…it was a lot more tolerable. It was a big adventure for me, still is in many ways. Eventually we decided to move to the East Coast in Philadelphia as a way for our family to get plugged into the social pipeline and have the opportunity to establish an identity here in the states.

Long story short I found my way to the West Coast again and honestly, I’m so glad I did. There is something here that seems to keep calling me. The desert sky at night, the diverse landscape, the unique beauty and history here that seems to so greatly encapsulate what “America” is.

Growing up in America…

Growing up in Philly as a 1st gen immigrant kid not knowing a lick of English can be…interesting to say the least. As young kids we all strive to find an “identity” we can sort of latch on to but adding a language and cultural barrier to that and a whole new environment and Country can certainly make things more entertaining. Life as a young child in the high desert mostly consisted of me wandering the expansive desert landscape behind our house there and in the Philly area oddly enough my path to learning English started with my mom and grandma watching Spanish “Novellas” in marathon mode.

You can say “mantuvo las cosas confusas pero entretenidas” <– you can google that. I’m proud of my Ro-Span-glish hybrid grasp of Spanish lol. But on a serious note, from an early age you realize that if you truly want to learn you have to listen and watch and…. listen and watch is exactly what I did. Life in Philly allowed me to grow into a young man who found solace in art and physical development. Especially art. Art was always at the helm of my development as person (and still is) my life during this time revolved a lot around learning about U.S. history and Culture. I realized what was “cool” what the “American Dream” was and what were pop culture icons and how the Art industry influenced the Entertainment industry and how the Entertainment industry influenced the culture of every day to day America.

This period in time was a truly special place where you intertwine who you are into the environment and you realize that you are always in a process of metamorphosis. My journey into photography was gradual and not a foray of passion found in the heat of the moment. I’ve always had a deep appreciation for art pieces by artists the likes of Michelangelo, Auguste Rodin, Van Gogh, never really did care for Picasso…jk I like him too! But visual art played a profound role in my current photography. It planted the seed early on and taught me that in every art piece there are two people. The artist and the viewer.

Finding business opportunities in photography…

Fast-forward into my early to mid 20’s I find myself in the South West part of the U.S. again. I’ve always worked odd jobs here and there and then I got into the real estate industry at the suggestion of a family friend. Now I’ve always been around art and photography from a young age and always had a deep appreciation for it and during the early 2000’s making a “business” out of real estate photography was not quite what it is today where anyone can pick up a prosumer level grade camera and is a “pro” all of a sudden. Back then if you told people you did photography for a living they would sort of look at you funny and almost always the follow up comment was “oh so you do it for fun that’s cool. What do you do for your real job?”

The truth was that back then it wasn’t my “fulltime” job, it was shortly after the dot com crash and the internet still hadn’t fully reached the social media craze phase and digital cameras were still out of reach for most people. That combined with the numerous sophisticated modern editing platforms that is standard today. Even typing this out sometimes I have to take a step back and realize what a blessing modern technology and innovation is for the modern tech savvy person looking to make a business out of media production.

All these tools eventually enabled me to realize a tremendous opportunity media production can be for the Real Estate Industry while working as a real estate agent at the time. So I applied my love for art into my photography and the rest as they say is history. To date, I have photographed myself personally over 15,000 homes and have worked and traveled all over the U.S.

My love for photography and eye for detail and work ethic has blessed me with the opportunity to work with the top Real Estate Brokerage in the U.S. both Residential and Commercial. I’ve worked for numerous construction companies and big and small businesses alike.

My skillset over the years has grown quite expansive. From on site planning and executing to intensive high level editing. I’ve been able to develop a method that really streamlines my workflow and maximizes quality. Quality has always ALWAYS been at the forefront of my business philosophy when it comes to media production and is something I will never compromise on in lieu of scaling. I believe that both can be had with hard work and the right planning.

Finding Purpose in the next phase…

I suppose, one of life’s biggest challenges is striving to find a truly meaningful purpose that can satiate the human spirit’s thirst for something bigger and greater, something that can help us navigate the murky deep monotony of the apathetic waters of life that seem to have such a pervasive effect throughout society. I suppose shooting a plethora of cookie cutter homes and huge multi million dollar monolithic mansions it can leave one in time if not careful with a dulled down appetite, like many things it can become routine and lose its zest. Much like a lot in life we strive to find the balance between form, function, and art. On a realistic level there are many benefits to form and function. It provides a practical realistic foundational pillar that on the surface can look maybe even bland  but it is the basic functionality in which creativity can then grow on the backs of. There is a deep appreciation for peace and structure found in form in function that can truly be appreciated especially growing up very conscious of life back in Romania during the Cold War.

You know growing up as a young man there were many periods in my development while studying history where you think “oh THAT is the great enemy!” So you foolishly revolt against whatever THAT is thinking you can outsmart history’s greatest minds. But the thing is as you “live” life you understand that life isn’t so much so about understanding the enemy but understanding yourself because we are always in this state of tug of war subconsciously trying to outsmart ourselves via many superficial vices or ventures. Some pursuits may even look of substance on the surface but unless you are seeking things out of true and genuine awareness of your why… one will always be in this constant chase of trying to outsmart yourself. But at some point you will have to face yourself because you run out of room to run.

I suppose the above may seem like a but of word salad but I promise it really isn’t and there is a deep meaning to it if you really listen. This topic is rather deep and I can go on typing for quite some time delving deep into it and perhaps another time I will. But throughout every generation there has been a cultural fabric that has penetrated the psyche of every individual within that society which has made them take agency and ownership in that environment and period.

In many ways in today’s world at least here in the West I have observed an erosion of that agency and ownership, it has become akin to a long boring highway ride brought on by a host of reasons. Form and function has taken a monopoly on culture and that has had profound trickle down effects on society’s subconscious. I suppose this last section is still in development for me but I will say that there is for me a great purpose to be found in artful storytelling and this transcends far outside the spectrum of Real Estate photography but as earlier stated there is a great pillar I have found in building a Network of genuinely good individuals and people that have crossed my path that has allowed me to pursue now art in a way that tells a story with purpose and that is the next big chapter in my life.

Because the purpose I want to have in life is to impact people’s emotions in a way that awakes them from this boring ride and tribal warfare born out of modern comfort and also propaganda. There is a struggle and beauty that exists and transcends all cultures and can coexist without eroding identities but rather create a peek and opportunity to peer into the window of the other side. To realize that what it means to be human is a fabric that ties the fabric of humanity together and photography and video is such an amazing tool to be able to tell this story in an artful manner of expression. It seemed it my time here has aligned with the right technology during a time where humanity is a unique time where the old world and new world are facing a clash. I hope you stay tuned and join me and are part of the journey.

I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes. “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift” – Steve Prefontaine.

To me that gift is to be consciously aware and have the ability to make a lasting impact for the better and as long as I can I will strive to have that impact…