I have been a gardener since I was five years old, when my mother gave me a free sample packet of marigold seeds and directed me to a patch of dirt. My first camera was a component of a toy spy suitcase (Man from Uncle, I think) that took tiny black and white photos. Since then I’ve collected dozens of cameras. In 2007 I discovered scanner art, and whatever was in bloom in my garden made its way to my flatbed scanner.

I received an undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin—Madison and a master’s degree from Stony Brook University. While teaching fiction and English, I wrote and published essays, poetry and fiction. After years as a stay-at-home dad, I became a development researcher at Northwestern University, retiring in 2020. My wife and I have lived in the Chicago area since 1986. We have two adult daughters..