Venice saved me. It continues to re-energize me and save me in times when I paint myself into a corner. Venice is home to me. The Boardwalk is my favorite place in the world. It's magical and it's also incredibly scary - tragic - the desperation, criminality... con artists at every turn. You have to be on your guard every second. This constant dangerous element and homelessness are familiar and home to me for some reason. The duality of great beauty with the tragic is a real rush for me. In person - there's this palpable danger but in pictures everything is shiny, colorful and gorgeous with none of the despair. In the push of a button - I can lift out all the anguish - it's a incredible powerful feeling. Yes, the men walk around in no shirts and that's fantastic for a gay man. And Yes, I feel as though I'm shooting fish in a barrel. But that's only a part of the reason I go there. It's healing for me to take out the awful and leave the just the beauty.
True Beauty ... The Essence of a Person can only be seen when the subject is unaware.