Biography
My initial formal education prepared me for teaching art, which I did for almost twenty years. Early on, I recognized that I could best apply my talents to teaching in inner city schools. When the time came for me to work on a Master’s Degree, I decided to get the equivalent number of hours in a photography program at the Kansas City Art Institute, which fortunately was located close to home and work. Though I did not realize it at the time, I had discovered my life's passion and calling. After two years of study, while simultaneously teaching and raising two children as a single mother, I was ready to advance to teaching photography at Magnet School for the Arts, Lincoln Academy, in the Kansas City, Missouri School District. I shared my enthusiasm for the medium with my students, and under my guidance many of them received national awards and recognition.
For the past ten years I have been traveling and photographing many different peoples and cultures in the Middle East, Central Asia and Southeast Asia. After several trips to the Middle East after 9/11/2001, I became painfully aware that the information I was receiving from the U.S. mainstream media often included half truths and sometimes was completely false. It became a mission of mine to educate anyone who would observe my work and listen to me, and to address common misunderstandings about the goodness of most of the people that I had met. Though most live with great hardships, many have invited me into their homes and offered great kindness and hospitality.