Larry's BIo

Larry’s love of photography dates back to the late sixties when he helped his father develop B&W negative film and print those to photographic paper in a makeshift darkroom his father had set up in an upstairs bathroom of their home. To this day Larry does not remember if his assistance in the darkroom activities was willing given or was a requirement, but acknowledges that this was the spark that ignited his interest in photography. In the early seventies, Larry’s father gave him his old hand-me-down Honeywell Pentax 35mm camera that he had purchased years earlier from a news reporter who had himself used it for many years. The old camera had no light meter or any of the other conveniences that even at that time could be found on new cameras. Once again, Larry praises his father’s move as one that taught him the fundamentals of photography.​

Larry graduated from college with a B.S. degree in Criminal Justice. At first he worked in his family’s beverage distribution business but soon decided to pursue a career in law enforcement. For the next ten years Larry rose through the ranks from patrolmen to detective and finally worked as an undercover narcotics officer in a larger city in Georgia. During that time he also worked for over a year as a task force officer with the Drug Enforcement Administration. Eventually he moved to Tucson, Arizona where he worked as a federal agent for the Aviation Branch of U.S. Customs pursuing major airborne drug smugglers attempting to fly illegal drugs into the United States through Mexico.

During all his early years, through high school, college, and eventually law enforcement, Larry continued to devote every minute that he could to photography. He even gave courses to other law enforcement officers in the use of a camera at crime scenes. Fellow officers and friends remember him as the guy who always had a camera within arms’ reach, both on and off duty.

In 1990 Larry had made the decision to leave law enforcement and returned to Vidalia, Georgia to work in the family wholesale beverage distribution business that he had grown up around. Larry and his sister eventually purchased the family business where he continued to work until his retirement In 2007.

​In early 2016, after Larry and his wife Teri moved to Cottonwood, Arizona, Larry opened The Aperture Gallery, a photography gallery in the old historic district of Cottonwood. In 2019, however, Larry and Teri moved some fifty miles away to Prescott, Arizona. This move forced Larry to sell the building he operated out of and close The Aperture Gallery in Cottonwood.

Today Larry works from his spacious studio at home in Prescott. When asked if he plans to open a new gallery in Prescott, Larry responded, “You know, I have always heard that turning your favorite hobby into a business many times takes the fun right out of it. I loved the interaction with people traveling from all over the world who were visiting the old historic district in downtown Cottonwood, but it quickly began to chip into the time I wanted to spend in the field taking photographs. To continue enjoying the hobby I have loved for over fifty years, I am going to spend my time traveling and taking photographs, not stuck behind a counter managing a business.”

​Larry’s collection gives a unique look at one man’s travel through life with a camera at his side. His work reflects how he sees the world around him and those things that impress him enough to make him push the shutter button.