BIO
When I was in college I decided I wanted to become a writer; I called my Dad to a meeting and unveiled my desire. His response: “What do you know to write about. You’re just a punk. Do something worthwhile for twenty years, then you will have ‘something to write about’.”
So I went to medical school and became a cancer surgeon.
Surgery can be a glorious profession. There is great satisfaction in helping people who are in dire need. It can also be a really shitty job. Your whole day and often parts of your night are spent working on problems that sometimes have no good solution. After years of stress, many physicians experience compassion burnout. Mine came at mid-career. I worked through it mainly by decreasing my workload and pursuing art. I wrote and played in a band. I embraced photography. And I wrote. With more life experience.
“Harvesting Photons” is about our first big trip south in an RV named the Photon Bus. As an enthusiast-level photographer much of the book explores the desire to “harvest photons.” There are many glorious photographs. I explore, in my wandering way, numerous wide-ranging topics, including navigation algorithms, the trail system in Santa Fe, the origins of the atomic bomb, green energy, geology tidbits, Earthships in New Mexico, California’s oil industry and many others.
Doctors take responsibility for another person’s welfare after rigorous education and work in what feels like an increasingly hostile environment. I write briefly about this in my latest book, “Harvesting Photons: A Photographic Voyage Through the American West.” And share more glorious photographs and life experience.
Stay tuned for future projects!