It started with my mom's Polaroid.

At every family gathering when I was growing up, my mom had her Polaroid point-and-shoot close by. I never used it myself, but I watched what those pictures meant to her and to everyone who crowded around to see them develop. Without realizing it, I was learning that a photograph is more than a picture. It's proof that a moment mattered.

Years later, while I was living in Texas and exploring San Antonio, I bought my first disposable camera. Then another, and another. Photography became my hobby, a way of holding on to places and people. In 2007, someone gave me a digital point-and-shoot, and I used it constantly, until it was lost along with every photo on its memory card. I never got it back, and I've never forgotten how that felt.

Life kept putting a camera in my hands. Again and again, I ended up being the "picture man," and eventually I took it as a sign. Photography didn't come to me through a school or a plan. It fell into my lap, and I decided to take it seriously. I taught myself by studying professional photographers, watching countless hours of lessons, and practicing, then practicing some more. I still practice today.

In February 2019, I opened DP Photography LLC and my first studio. We made it through the early years and through the pandemic, and we've since moved into a larger studio at 895 Vee Street in Biloxi.