Born in Indiana to a Mexican mom and Jewish dad, I have been caught between three worlds all my life. In 1994 I moved to New York City, where my three worlds collided with the city's cultural stew. I studied architecture at Pratt Institute, worked at various architectural firms, and even designed a few homes on my own, but mostly I rode my bike and explored the city. Spurred by a road trip through the southwest where I took pictures of old chop suey parlors and 24-hour donut shops, I began photographing signs and storefronts on my rides around the city. Chinese fishmongers, Jamaican patty palaces, Hassidic hat shops, and Halal live chicken markets all beckoned.

The classic New York City bodega especially caught my attention. I was attracted by the bodegas' bright colors, bold graphics, and rotating set of key words and phrases, as well as by their can-do entrepreneurial spirit and current state of faded glory. Over the next 5 years I photographed hundreds of bodegas around New York, exploding the images and reconstructing them back together while infusing them with the grit and noise of the city.

Most recently I have turned my attention to the iconic signs of Coney Island and Chinese take-out signs.

Some of my larger works are hanging at the Bronx Library Center, Vitamin Water and Frank 151 headquarters, and Credit Suisse First Boston headquarters in Switzerland, as well as various private collections, including those of Spike Lee and Dan Zanes. My work has been shown at Galapagos Art Space, WNYC's Greene Space, Jan Larsen Art, and the BAM Jewish Film Festival, and has been featured in the New York Times, House Beautiful, Daily News, and Sofrito for Your Soul.