What’s Developing
Portraits and stories from the field.
Smokejumpers
New York's Adirondacks & Connecticut — Ongoing since winter 2026
Five shoots. Five interviews. The project is moving.
Portraits and recorded recollections of five men who once parachuted into remote wildfires across the American West and Alaska — long retired from the fire line, now telling it in their own words. They live quiet lives in Connecticut and New York now, lives most of their neighbors know nothing about. I sat with each of them in their homes, where they welcomed me with coffee and ice cream, home-cooked meals, and lots of laughter, and what poured out were lifetimes worth remembering.
I recorded our conversations, too, so every story stays true to the man who lived it. Those recordings become part of the photo essay — his voice, right there with the photographs.
The work is done in collaboration with Chuck Sheley, editor of Smokejumper Magazine, and it's still going. Now it's heading north. There are smokejumpers in the Adirondacks too — men who jumped fire out West and now live in the Park, a long way from the country they used to drop into. Same portraits, same interviews, new ground.
An ongoing documentary project. Stay tuned.
Christopher Hoffman
Amenia, New York — Winter 2026
Christopher Hoffman is a cellist and filmmaker whose work bridges improvisational music and cinematic storytelling. His solo cello performances merge acoustic and electric textures into immersive, narrative-driven sound worlds. His recent album REX, inspired by the life and work of painter Rex Brasher, reflects on landscape, observation, and artistic devotion through a deeply personal musical lens. Alongside his music, Hoffman directs short films that explore themes of identity, isolation, and mysticism, including Salamander, which screened at festivals in the United States and Europe. Moving fluidly between stage and screen, his work draws on atmosphere, place, and personal history to build a distinctive artistic voice.
Jerry Cantrell
Toad’s Place, New Haven, CT – September 2025
When an old friend asks you to bring your cameras, you bring your cameras. In September 2025, Jerry Cantrell played a sold-out solo show at New Haven‘s Toad’s Place, and I had the honor of shooting the night at his request. Jerry – founding guitarist and voice of Alice in Chains – was touring behind his solo album “I want blood”, and the show kicked off Toad’s Place 50th-anniversary concert series: a landmark night for one of Connecticut’s most storied rooms. Before the lights went down, we got to hang out and catch up – it’s been many years.
RAP, PINK FLOYD AND ME
US Book Release — April 15, 2025
I am honored to be included in Paul’s new book, Gliders Over Hollywood. Rap and I go back some thirty-five years at Columbia Records. Some of the crazy adventures we’ve shared together include working for long periods of time with Pink Floyd, among several other major recording acts. I remember someone bursting into my office saying, “Hop on a plane tomorrow. We have to get you to Texas ASAP. We just purchased this retired Goodyear Blimp and turned it into the Pink Floyd Airship, and need you to get aerial shots for promotion and PR before the Division Bell tour starts soon.”
After a week of shooting air to air, it was on to the next aerial acrobat the 1994 Division Bell tour and the rest is history.
Gliders Over Hollywood: Airships, Airplay, And The Art Of Rock Promotion - Paperback – April 15, 2025
Gliders Over Hollywood tells the exhilarating true story of a blue-collar kid nicknamed ‘Rap’ who grew up in thrall to rock’n’roll, then found himself right in the middle of many of his heroes’ lives as he became the most renowned rock promotion man in the USA.
Paul Rappaport enjoyed a storied thirty-three-year career at Columbia Records, where he was instrumental in the careers of everyone from Bob Dylan to Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd to The Rolling Stones, Elvis Costello to Billy Joel, Judas Priest to Alice In Chains, and many, many more.
This dynamic, entertaining memoir captures the magic of these times and the people who made it happen, revealing the never-before-heard secrets of the promotion and marketing that turned the music industry on its head. From creating the Pink Floyd airship to sword-fighting with Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden and receiving a guitar lesson from Keith Richards, it’s a book packed full of extraordinary adventures with some of the biggest names in rock.
Portrait of Paul Rappaport, courtesy Mark Seliger
Joey Wit
CT — Ongoing since 2021
I met Jimmy in 2021, just before recording my sophomore LP, "Rose Gold." A mutual friend introduced us, hoping we could work together. In fact, our original introduction was a phone conversation. What was supposed to be a brief "hello" before we officially met turned into a roughly 90-minute, back-and-forth, heart-to-heart story swap — now a common theme for Jimmy and me. We covered everything from Abbey Road to international touring to the iconic Blackwing 602 (if you know that one, well then, you'd probably be great friends with us). When it came time for the first shoot, the chemistry was already through the roof. Not only did I gain an artistic partner to work with, but a brother as well. Jimmy and I have since worked together in several capacities — from official publicity photos and headshots to in-studio recording sessions — with international touring and live performances on the agenda for the future.
If Joey Wit had only been a short-lived professional baseball player, that would have been enough of a legacy to satisfy his adventurous spirit. But after three years and multiple concussions, when his career ended abruptly, he was blessed with the hard-earned realization that he never felt as alive or awake in athletics as he did writing and performing music. He grew up listening to classic rock like the Beatles and the Stones, drowning in guitar catalogs before and between Little League games, and his homecoming to music was both a dream and the hardest thing he's ever done, yet where he's supposed to be.
WaterFire Providence
Providence, Rhode Island is where it all began for me – where I learned to hone my craft and started calling myself a photographer. So getting to serve as a volunteer photographer for WaterFire Providence holds a meaningful place for me. There’s nothing quite like standing on the river at dusk, the braziers catching, the crowds glowing in the firelight. Every event brings out something new – a face in the crowd, or reflections on the water. This is my small way of giving back to the city that gave me my professional start. Grateful for every night on the water – here are eight of my favorites.
Video teaser in production on former music executive and photographer
Michael Friedman highlighting the process of EXPOSED
CT — Ongoing since 2025
Michael Friedman began his music career managing bands in college, later becoming a publicist for The Bee Gees, The Mamas and the Papas, The Turtles, The Hollies, and Glen Campbell. He managed and produced Todd Rundgren's first band, NAZZ, before joining Albert Grossman in 1968 and working with Bob Dylan, The Band, Janis Joplin, and others, all while documenting his experiences with a Pentax camera. Friedman produced early albums for Grossman's Bearsville Records and later managed Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge. At Arista Records in 1979, he created the video department, producing groundbreaking music videos, before founding Empire Records.
In 2018, Friedman's wife, Donna Vita, discovered photo negatives of artists he worked with (1968–1973). This led to The Lost Negatives Project, featuring exhibits at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, where the photos are archived. Their book, EXPOSED: The Lost Negatives and Untold Stories of Michael Friedman, was published in 2023.
Friedman also pursued antiques and design, opening Friedman Gallery Antiques and Artafax in Westport in 1983. His book Cowboy Culture: The Last Frontier of American Antiques was released in 1992. With Vita, he co-founded the Ash Creek Saloons in Fairfield and Norwalk and The Goose American Bistro in Darien.
Currently, Donna, Michael, and Jimmy are working on multiple projects. Michael continues showing at galleries and public spaces throughout New York and Connecticut.