Artist Highlight

Chris was raised in the city, but tamed by the ocean. He ran with the wolves on Wall Street for over 20years before deciding to focus solely on combining his love of the ocean with his love for photography. Today, Chris’ passion is pursuing the fine art of ocean photography in a way that captures the everchanging magic of color, textures and light in every wave that comes ashore. 

Currently Chris resides in South Florida, but he has traveled the world. From the icy waters of Alaska, to the tropical waters off of Fiji. His travels have a consistent theme; to experience the symphony of sounds created by the ocean. From the rhythm of salt water rolling across the sand, to the beat of waves crashing ashore, his photography is inspired by the rhythmic beat of the captivating oceans.

Our oceans release ions that stimulate endorphins in our brains that help reduce the perception of pain and can trigger a positive feeling in the body. In Chris’s case these stimulates helped Chris cope with the loss of his father. He had spent much of his youth and young adult life at sea with his father learning how to understand, anticipate and respect the rapid and often unpredictable changes of the ocean. These life lessons are not ones that can be learned from a textbook and in fact he used these lessons along with his passion for the ocean to pursue and obtain his 100 ton Coast Guard captain’s license. Today these life lessons that he learned from his father and Mother Nature are an integral part of his planning and execution as he pursues his passion in ocean photography. 

Our brains can interpret the combination of color, texture and light to produce a wide range of emotions. From a calm ocean softly rolling across the sand, to the violence of waves crashing ashore, Chris strives to capture this range of emotions in his ocean photography and share it with his viewers. To this end the camera is not his most important tool. The most important tool is his vision and passion to capture the very essence of the ocean in action. 

Chris pushes himself and his gear to the limits by being at the complete mercy of the ocean and the creatures that swim in it. There are times when he gets held under by waves or slammed to the bottom by the tons of water that crashes down on his body, but Chris understands that to capture the full range of the ocean, from tranquility to storms, he must be present in both body and mind. When he walks out of the house into the darkness for an early morning, first light beach photo shoot, his wife often reminds him to be safe knowing that he is perfectly content with however the ocean treats him. 

Chris believes in not just showcasing the ocean in his photography, but also in giving back to the ocean through conservation and by volunteering with non-profits. He has been volunteering for years with a local sea turtle organization that reports to the Florida Wildlife Commission. There he aids in the protection and survival of a variety of sea turtles, some of which are endangered. His efforts, along with the other volunteers, ensures these endangered species will be here for generations to come. In addition, his volunteering allows him to get up close and personal with endangered species, including making them the subject of some of his photography. Many people will never be able to experience these endangered species except through Chris’s photography.