In 2002-2003 I was fortunate enough to spend 11 months in Rome with my family as a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome. Along with 30 other winners of the Rome Prize and their "Fellow Travelers," some Residents, and a rotating group of Visiting Scholars and Artists, I had the luxury of working in a large studio at the top of the Janiculum Hill, overlooking all of Rome. I explored a number of projects, mostly photographic, many of which are shown here, some of which I have continued to the present. It was a life-changing experience, and all of us forged long-lasting friendships, both within the Academy and in the larger community of Rome.

Since then, we have gone back to Rome every year, for the last two years for three months. I find, even as I continue to pursue my design practice remotely, that Rome renews my photographic vision and refreshes my life. I can keep photographing some of the same places—Verano Cemetery and the Passeggiata del Gianicolo among them—over and over. New collage work, in collaboration with poet Randall Conch (see Roma Amor), has reinvigorated and broadened my approach to my photography and to image making.