Born in New York in the midst of the civil rights movement, I came of age as an artist at a moment when various local and national power structures began to respond to the issue of institutional accessibility by creating such places as the Studio Museum in Harlem and regional funding entities such as the Creative Artists Public Service (CAPS) artists fellowships as a way of making art and cultural production more broadly accessible, available, and less exclusive. It was through the support of such institutions and entities that my own career was initially created and sustained. I did two years of undergrad work at the School of Visual Arts, and later earned my BA degree from Empire State College. The Manhattan campus is a low residency college for working adults. I received my MFA from Yale University School of Art, a highly competitive program that accepts approximately eight students per year to partake of its rigorous "boot camp" style training under the watchful eye of Tod Papageorge, director of graduate studies in photography. I am currently professor of photography and Distinguished College Artist at Columbia College Chicago, where I have taught since 1998
