Location: New York, NY.

Duration: Since May 2013.

Education: BFA in photographic illustration, Rochester Institute of Technology, 2007.

Cultural influences: Art and science museums played a large part in developing my love of objects. The Met, the Getty, the Museum of Science and Industry, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

Artistic influences: Andreas Gursky, Alec Soth, Frederic Edwin Church, Richard Avedon, Stanley Kubrick, Irving Penn, Garry Winogrand, J.M.W. Turner, Verner Panton, Louis Poulsen and T.H. Robsjohn Gibbings.

Big break: My internship with master photographer Arnold Newman, when I was just seventeen. I learned so much about the philosophy of making pictures. To witness his dedication and work ethic firsthand was a humbling experience.

Work environment: I have an office and studio space in midtown Manhattan.

Technique: My recent work involves a fair amount of compositing. Having worked as a retoucher, I have a good idea of what needs to be shot to get the images I want. My goal is to make the retouching as seamless as possible.

Philosophy: A photo should tell you something about an object’s surface quality, weight and function. I want viewers to feel an object through my photographs. And food should look appetizing, first and foremost.