By 1974 I was photographing seriously with my first Leica M4 and 50mm Summicron.  

Artist Stephen Namara befriended me at the University of Missouri - Columbia, where he arrived on a track scholarship from Kenya. I was studying photojournalism and working for the ‘Maneater’ - UNM's campus newspaper. I also worked briefly at a small production film studio.

Leading up to 1974, photographic stints found me in two commercial film labs (Werte Color - Bonn, Germany and Neblette Color Labs - Dallas) and formative years as a photographer on the staff of the ‘Shorthorn’ - a daily newspaper for the University of Texas - Arlington.