Born to a Mexican mama and a Jewish papa, I have lived in New York City since 1994, studying architecture, working as an architect, and riding my bike. Spurred by a road trip through the southwest where my wife and 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 fish markets, Jamaican patty palaces, Hassidic hat shops, and halal live chicken markets/auto repair shops all interested me.

The classic New York City bodega especially caught my attention. I am 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 past 5 years I have photographed hundreds of bodegas around Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and especially the Bronx.

Though five years ago I would have never thought it possible, I am starting to run out of new bodegas. So I refocused my eyes, and BAM! Chinese take-out joints, laundromats, Coney Island hot dog stands, and mid-town street vendors are all around me, and they look good.

Some of my larger works are hanging at the Bronx Library Center, Vitamin Water and Frank 151 headquarters, and Credit Suisse First Boston world headquarters in Switzerland, as well as various private collections. My work has been shown at Jan Larsen Art, and the BAM Jewish Film Festival, and been featured in the New York Times and Daily News.