Artist Statement

I make content. That’s my thing.

It's taken a long time to come to an understanding of who I am and what I want to do, but I think I’m starting to get there.

Long before I picked up a camera, I considered being a writer. I’ve always enjoyed writing. In high school, I actually enjoyed essay assignments because they made sense to me. I enjoy the process of organizing thoughts, of getting them in order so that they might make sense to the reader. I think people who struggle with writing don’t understand that it's a mental process of cutting through to the essence of a concept, of the idea you want to get down. You must first understand what you want to express. I think this is why I find writing so meditative and why I find so much personal clarity from writing.

In 2013 I dropped out of California State University at Chico. Engineering wasn’t my thing at the time and maybe school wasn’t my thing at the time either. But it was a stressful time with me. I joined a friend on a trip to Ashland, OR for the Ashland Spring Thaw bike race. There I was introduced to Drew Rhode, editor of Decline Magazine. I shadowed him most of that weekend, picking his brain and watching him cover the race. I asked him what it would take for me to get an article in the magazine and he just asked what kind of camera I had. I admitted that I didn’t have one. “Get a camera,” he told me. So, that summer, I got a camera. I’ve been shooting ever since. This month, my name was published next to a full page photo of mine in Decline.

Shortly after I got my camera I began experimenting with video. My best creative work is usually done when on the subject of my passions, so naturally I made my first video is of me mountain biking. Compared side by side with my most recent mountain bike video, I'm a little bit blown away by my own progress. 

I'm inspired by adventure and exploration, by pushing the limits of what the human mind and body can do, and by the big questions like "who are we?" and "what are we doing?" I grew up reading the works great American adventure authors like Jack London and Mark Twain. I'm influenced both by the great landscape photographer Ansel Adams as well has the mountain bike photographer legend Sven Martin. The cinematography of Sweetgrass Productions, Sherpa Cinema, and Stept Prod. is another fountain of inspiration for me. I'm motivated to work hard and to perfect my craft so that I might one day combine all my skills as a content creator for a company like Red Bull Media House.

As a content creator, my goal is to constantly create quality content that captivates my audience. The only way to perfect my craft is to constantly create media. As a writer, a blog is a vital tool that allows me to practice and share simultaneously. My goal is to write something every day and to keep my words relevant while developing my voice. As a photographer, I will focus on sharing my work through Instagram to build a following. I plan to challenge myself to capture spectacular images by getting way out of my comfort zone - getting up early, getting myself to difficult locations, and keeping my camera with me wherever I go. As a videographer, I will increase both quantity and quality while educating myself on visual effects and animation. I plant to continue my Chuck Fin RAW series, making new videos regularly.

I want to focus on the areas of graphic design that will strengthen my creativity and manipulation of my writing, photography, videography. I also want to build my other skills such as digital illustration - anything to give me a broader understanding of marketing.

For my hardcopy portfolio, I want to showcase my photography. I like the idea of choosing a theme, but I think for my first portfolio I want to share my variety.

It's taken me a long time to get here, but I'm really only now getting close to professional level products. My biggest struggle has been maintaining my inspiration and staying consistent. But, like I mentioned earlier, I'm starting to get it. I'm starting to understand myself and where I want to be.