I Am Not A Photographer.

I am slowly coming to the conclusion that I am not a photographer.

I am a visual storyteller.

I paint pictures with my camera, or with a brush, or with my words. I could care less about perfect technique, or the guru techie talk that most photographers get giddy about. Not because I don't know what it means, but because it bores me to tears. None of it really matters to me.

So what if you can take a technically immaculate photo using 742 pieces of very expensive shiny equipment? Does it move me? Does it make me feel something? Did it provoke thought, make a statement, or change me somehow? If it doesn't, then did any of it really make a difference?

To me telling the story is the most important thing. You can do that with your fancy schmancy digitech or with a 30 year old film camera you found at a thrift shop or with an iphone or a chewed up pencil or kid's watercolors or with rainbow chalk on a sidewalk. These are all just tools we use to make art, to have our voices heard, to share what's in our minds and hearts.

Art is an expression of the innermost workings of our soul. The story—and the message we send with it—that is the ONLY thing. Technique is only important insofar as it contributes to that message.

I'm sure many purist photographers will disagree. To them I say: I am not a photographer. I don't play by your rules. I am only here to tell stories about the characters in my dreams that no one else can see. I will do that by whatever means possible.