I
grew
up
in
Crystal
Lake,
Illinois,
which
is
a
suburb
outside
of
Chicago.
Crystal
Lake
is
the
kind
of
place
small
enough
that
it
forces
you
to
actively
seek
out
your
own
excitement,
yet
close
enough
to
the
city
to
be
able
to
escape
there
from
time
to
time.
I
took
my
first
black
and
white
photography
class
at
the
local
community
college
when
I
was
15
and
was
immediately
hooked.
After
that,
I
spent
a
lot
of
time
figuring
out
how
to
continue
taking
pictures
for
fun.
I
eventually
decided,
much
to
the
immediate
horror
of
family
and... Read More
friends,
to
become
a
photographer
rather
than
simply
making
it
an
expensive
hobby.
In
2004,
I
received
my
Bachelor
of
Fine
Arts
in
photography
with
a
minor
in
fiction
writing
from
Columbia
College
Chicago.
Since
then,
I
have
exhibited
in
Chicago,
New
York,
Miami,
Toronto
and
Seattle,
including
an
exhibition
at
Jen
Bekman
Gallery
in
the
Winter
2006
Hey,
Hot
Shot!
show.
I
was
one
of
the
winners
of
the
Magenta
Foundation's
Emerging
Photographers
Competition,
Flash
Forward.
In
the
spring
of
2009,
I
received
my
MFA
from
the
Photography,
Video
and
Related
Media
department
at
the
School
of
Visual
Arts.