Born to two artist parents in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, I somehow ended up a mostly “left brain” child. My first computer, the Macintosh Plus, taught me how to program and my second computer was just powerful enough to run 3D rendering programs. My first digital images were of fractal landscapes reflected by perfectly mirrored spheres. I graduated from the Mississippi School For Math and Science with just enough knowledge to make me think I had a clue. My high school thesis on the underlying physics of lava lamps, in which I declared that the chemistry was “quite complicated,” failed to generate much interest in the academic community.

I went to college at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, focusing on 3D computer graphics and scientific visualization. Again, more math and more physics. After graduating in 2002, I spent close to a year in Germany studying at the Max Plaank Institute in Saarbrucken. It was in Europe, among the ancient statues and giant cathedrals, that I began to get truly interested in photography. A Canon point & shoot camera became a constant companion on my walking tours of the various european capitals.

Since that time, my camera bag has gotten progressively larger, and I now know what most of the buttons on my camera are for. As of 2006, I (somewhat reluctantly) call Southern California my home. I have a “real job,” working as a software engineer in Pasadena, a dog, and two cats. My photos, when not of pets or babies or friends, try to capture the spirit of a mississipi-born kid transplanted into california. In short - the sublime beauty of the southern california landscape existing within a confused state of urban living.

Contact Joel

Featured Galleries

Thematically organized collections of my photography are available in his Flickr gallery.

Abita Mystery House

New Mexico

Diopter