Steven began his study of photography while at high school in Orange, California, having a special interest in photographic special effects, manipulated imagery, unusual color film stocks, and creating multi-projector slide shows with music. He also pursued video production and film animation during his last two years of high school.

He continued his study of photography, film animation and motion picture special effects while at UC Santa Barbara. Using a 35mm optical printer, an animation stand and a motion picture optical printer there, various techniques were explored to further grow in this field. James Turrell was Steven's key mentor there.

Following college, Steven worked for a company in Orange County which had just developed a state-of-the-art optical printer camera system, and then he later worked for a company in San Diego which was producing large 30 projector multi-image slide shows. In 1982 he struck out on his own and founded Odyssey Visual Design, the first San Diego company to produce 3-D computer animation. Clients included Coca Cola, General Dynamics, Union Oil, Southwestern Cable, Metrocast, Honda, and TV stations all over the country.

During September of 1986 and again in 1987, Steven organized, promoted and hosted two computer animation festivals at the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, which were the first such shows of their kind in the world. 17,000 people paid to see the film presentations in the theater at the museum. The purpose was to raise public awareness of computer animation as an art form and communication medium.

 

 

In 1988 Steven produced the world's first home entertainment video of computer animation, called "State of the Art of Computer Animation". He then decided to focus the company solely on producing these videos and theatrical presentations of computer animation. Pacific Arts Video distributed this first product on VHS and Laser Disc, which were sold around the world. The video won the "Best Video Art" award from the American Film Institute at their American Video Conference Awards Show in November of 1988.

In 1990 Steven produced the first in a series of videos called "The Mind's Eye". These videos have featured the best computer animation from around the globe and have original scores created by notable music artists like Jan Hammer, Thomas Dolby, Kerry Livgren and Tangerine Dream. The four videos in this series have sold well over one million copies so far. All together, Steven has produced over 30 different videos of computer animation, in a variety of styles and formats. In 2002 Steven expanded the scope of the business with a new name, Animation Entertainment, and a new destination website, www.AnimationTrip.com.

 

 

Meanwhile, Steven has continued with his love of photography. His thoughts:

I think I have always been drawn to innovative and imaginative imagery. I remember eagerly waiting each week to watch a PBS show that was devoted to new video art, featuring video synthesizers and other analog video tools. Of course, laser light shows were a big thrill to me as a teenager also. My favorite film while growing up was "2001 - A Space Odyssey", which had a lasting impact and inspiration upon my life and career. A few photographers whose work has been very inspirational to me are Alfred Stieglitz, Eric Meola, Pete Turner, Richard Avedon, and most recently the work of Howard Schatz. I would say that combining unique and interesting synthetic imagery together with great music is the essence of my own artistic expression, which I've been exploring through various methods. Now, using digital tools in order to manipulate or enhance my photographic images is a continuing source of excitement and artistic fulfillment for me, in addition to simply capturing interesting or unusual "moments in time" out in the real world.

During the last five years Steven has been spending a significant amount of time with his photographic art - shooting new images, manipulating existing images, adding images to his website, and he has had the opportunity to exhibit his work in several one-man shows and juried exhibitions. Steven's art consists of both "created imagery" and "captured imagery". He creates from scratch original images and also manipulates existing images to come up with something very unusual, using a variety of digital and photographic techniques. Much of Steven's work has a luminous quality to it (as if the subject is emitting it's own light rather than reflecting light). And it often has a certain form of abstraction and a sense a mysteriousness about it. Here are two web links containing a small portion of the media attention Steven has been receiving: San Diego Union Tribune article and the Featured Artist article at San Diego Artist.

As Steven has become very involved in the San Diego art community during the past five years, he has become aware of many very talented photographic artists here. In 2004 Steven organized, curated and judged the first Art of Photography Show, which was exhibited at the La Jolla Art Association Gallery in November of that year. 525 images were received to be considered, submitted by local photographers - though the gallery space could only accommodate 55 framed prints. There were over 400 people at the opening reception and 25% of the work was sold within the two-week exhibit of the show. So, the show was a big success in all respects.

Following the 2004 show, Steven and his team decided to produce a second exhibit. The Art of Photography Show 2006 was an international exhibition of photographic art which took place April 20 - June 4, 2006 at the elegant Lyceum Theatre Gallery, located in the historic Gaslamp Quarter of downtown San Diego, California. Arthur Ollman, the Director of the Museum of Photographic Arts, was the judge for this exhibition. A total of 9,517 photographic entries were submitted by artists from 35 countries around the world. Mr. Ollman selected 104 images for the exhibition. This was a truly exceptional presentation of photographic art, and a very special cultural offering for the city of San Diego. Click here to view the images from The Art of Photography Show 2006.

In the fall of 2006 Steven and his team produced The Art of Digital Show, a world-class international exhibition featuring all forms of digital art -- digital painting, computer based illustration, digitally manipulated photography, digital video art, computer animation, and an interactive video installation. Hugh Davies, the Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, was the Judge for this exhibition. Very unique about The Art of Digital Show was the combining of fine art images in the gallery along with video art. 16 flat-screen displays in the gallery were continuously exhibiting the video art pieces which were selected by Dr. Davies. The Art of Digital Show exhibited at the Lyceum Theatre Gallery, running from October 6, 2006 through November 19, 2006.

On April 14, 2007 Steven and his team launched The Art of Photography Show 2007, an international exhibition of photographic art which took place at the Lyceum Theatre Gallery. This presentation of photography was truly exquisite. A total of 9,867 photographic entries were submitted by artists from 37 countries around the world for this juried competition. The judge for this exhibit was Tim Wride, who is the Head of the Department of Photography at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. He is also the Executive Director of the No Strings Foundation, a non-profit organization which provides significant grants to photographic artists. Mr. Wride selected 103 images -- the best of the best! There were over 1,200 people at the Opening Reception Gala on April 14th, which can be viewed here. The exhibition ran April 14 through May 28, 2007. Click here to view a video clip showcasing the award winning images in the exhibit.

Last fall Steven and his team produced The Art of Digital Show 2007, a world-class international exhibition of digital art. Neal Benezra, the Director of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, was the Judge for this exhibit. Out of 2,796 entries from 40 countries, he selected 83 framed fine art pieces, 18 video art pieces, a 3D modelled sculpture, a digitally designed textile piece, and one interactive piece -- the best of the best. Click here to view a video clip showcasing images and videos in the exhibit.
The Art of Digital Show exhibited at the Lyceum Theatre Gallery in downtown San Diego from October 6 through November 11, 2007. The website for this project is www.artofdigitalshow.com.

This spring Steven and his team produced The Art of Photography Show 2008. This major international exhibition of photographic art took place April 25 - May 23, 2008 at the Lyceum Theatre Gallery. The response from the global photographic art community was huge -- 12,216 entries were submitted by 3,560 artists from 46 countries. The judge for this year's exhibition was Carol McCusker, who is the Curator of Photography at the Museum of Photographic Arts. She spent four days narrowing it down to 102 utterly amazing images.  Click here to view a four-minute QuickTime video review of the 2008 exhibit. The website for this project is www.artofphotographyshow.com.

This website will be an ongoing and evolving "virtual gallery" for Steven's photographic art. Feel free to write and share your thoughts about the work.