I have had a strong passion for photography since I was a teenager--I
loved walking around
Grant Park in Chicago and taking photographs of total
strangers, or documenting the commonplace occurances of my family and others around me.
On this page are examples of some of my earliest street photos.
At White Bear High School I was the yearbook photo editor for two years and the summer
following graduation I began to photograph commercially part-time. I also worked for my father
(who was a Manufactures Representative for Krazy Glue and Popeil Brothers) and attended
Globe College of Business in St Paul.
But soon I felt a pull in other directions and began
attending Northwestern College,
a Christian Liberal-Arts college in Roseville, MN. I completed
a degree in Social Science while continuing to be active in photography and becoming active in
playing the guitar and worship leading.
Following college graduation I spent 13 months traveling on the International Ministry Team New Vision with
Lutheran Youth Encounter (now Youth Encounter
). We spent six months in New Zealand and Papua New Guinea and while on this team
I met my future wife, Julie. Following team I spent a year as a Youth Director and then went back into photography
full-time. I worked at the Picture Place
Studio in White Bear Lake for several years and since 1990 I
began photographing as "BRT photography."
*No, the picture to the right is not of me or any family members...
I have been fortunate to have been able to continue traveling since becoming married.
My wife was a missionary kid and grew up in Papua New Guinea so we have been back there,
also visiting friends in New Zealand and in Australia where
she went to high school,
Concordia College in Adelaide. (In Australia "College"
refers to USA High School grades as opposed to "University") I have also been on
several short-term mission trips to Mexico, to Haiti, to the Domican Republic, to Belize,
and numerous trips to Trinidad.
Today I teach photography 3/4 time at Northwestern College in the
Department of Art and Graphic Design.
I have three children--one in High School, one in Middle School and one in Grade School.
My oldest son recently attained Black Belt from National Karate and he plays guitar and
is in the band "the big one two." My daughter rides a unicycle, plays the piano, percussion and is learning
the violin. She is also very artistic, plays basketball and softball
and loves her Lhasa Apsa "Ellie." My youngest son also rides a
unicycle and plays basketball and baseball and will probably be one
of the best computer gamers in the universe. *Yes, the guy to the right is me...
My wife Julie was given the "2003 Alumni Service Award" for Youth Encounter.
Read more about this and our family in their
Spring 2004 Newsletter (PDF).
