Welcome to Both Sides Photography!

I’m so happy you chose to visit the new home I’ve created as a place to  express my photographic vision! I invite you to visit regularly to check out the evolving content I intend to share here.

So why this name, Both Sides?

First and foremost, I chose the name Both Sides to express my dual passions for creating images of both natural and urban environments. My journey as a photographer started with landscape photography, focusing on the American Southwest. I quickly fell in love with places like New Mexico and Arizona, where I could enjoy the slow, deliberate, meditative process of landscape photography in the solitude of the often-stark landscapes there. At the same time, I’ve always had a love for urban environments, especially New York City, and enjoyed capturing the beauty inherent to these cityscapes. 

As time went by, I found myself wanting to bring the two sides together and create images that are a blend of both natural and urban elements, all while still using the techniques and aesthetics of landscape photography. As my life circumstances evolved and travel to places like the Southwest for the purposes of photography became more difficult (and more so during the COVID pandemic), this desire became even stronger. The exploration that this spawned eventually led me to the concept of the Ambiscape™ that is featured on this site, where the two sides of landscape and cityscape are joined into a seamless whole. The name Both Sides arose naturally from the origins of Ambiscape in the word ambidextrous, ie, using both sides equally well.

To commemorate this new beginning, here’s an Ambiscape made at dawn in Liberty State Park.

Both Sides is about more than my photography, it’s also a personal statement

Beyond the immediate relevance to my photography, Both Sides also relates to my personality and needs for internal gratification. I have always been evenly split between two loves, one for creative pursuits and the other for intellectual, rational endeavors, and have never been satisfied when confined to using only one side. For example, in college I initially wanted to major in both music and chemistry. Years later, after having chosen the path of science and research, I changed careers to pharmaceutical advertising as a copywriter in my search to allow both the creative and rational sides of my brain to express themselves. But the ad agency environment still forced too many choices between one side or the other, so I eventually created my own business as a consultant. I named my company Left Side Right Side to convey my value proposition as a person equally proficient at both the creative and rational sides of the pharmaceutical advertising business. And so, Both Sides Photography is also a descendant of that company and the concept behind it.

Lastly, Both Sides Photography speaks to the origins of my photographic journey at the dawn of the digital photography era. With digital photography, I found a satisfying blend of both “left brain” and “right brain” activities across the process from the field to the computer. It is here in my photography that I finally feel my two competing sides being able to exist harmoniously.

I welcome you to be a part of the Both Sides journey

If you have read this far, thank you so much for your interest in Both Sides Photography and how it came to be. Please join me in my continuing explorations of the Both Sides concept. You can sign up for updates and to see the content I intend to post in this blog. I’ll be writing about my approach to photography, techniques and equipment that I use, places where I go, and more. I also would love your comments and suggestions about the site, so please don’t hesitate to email me your thoughts.