'Songs Without Words'

I have written much about this project over the last year, but that information is spread across several blog posts and subpages on this site, so I thought it might be useful to gather the most important information in one place.

'Songs Without Words' is an interdisciplinary project, comprised of a photobook, an EP of solo guitar music, and public exhibitions including a performance element. The visual and musical elements are intended to be experienced as a unified work.

I am a classical guitarist, and I am proud to say that this fall I will be continuing my studies in the Doctor of Musical Arts program at the University of North Texas under the tutelage of the world-renowned performer Dr. Bokyung Byun.

Regarding my photography, I work almost exclusively with black and white film. I process the film myself, and in 2025 I set up a darkroom for wet printing. My photos have been featured in exhibitions by Texas Wesleyan University and by the Dallas Center for Photography. I was recently interviewed about this project by Stephen Montoya at Fort Worth Magazine.

Given that I am a classical guitarist, much of my photographic work is guitar-centric. I have photographed several well-known performers, including the principal harpist of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Emily Levin, the Grammy-Winning classical guitarist David Russell, Rene Izquierdo, Gabriel Bianco, Manuel Barrueco, Marko Topchii, Andrea Gonzalez Caballero, Leonela Alejandro, and several others.

In addition to my musical photos, I am very interested in other genres of photography. 'Songs Without Words' is a body of work featuring overtly musical images and seemingly non-musical photos which capture some element of music. Harmony and proportion are common to compositions in both music and photography, and a photo may have a sense of rhythm, lyricism, and perhaps even timbre. I think it is endlessly interesting to look at something I typically listen to, and to 'hear' something which is primarily visual. I have been awarded grants to produce a photobook, an EP, and a solo exhibition for this project, so I owe a debt of gratitude to the Greater Denton Arts Council and the City of Lewisville, TX.

The 'Songs Without Words' book is best understood as the first movement of a visual symphony, as the sequencing and layout of the book are rooted in Sonata-Allegro form. Explicitly musical images represent the A thematic material, while non-musical photos represent the B thematic material. I have assigned 'quality' (major, minor, augmented, diminished) and harmonic function (that is to say, tonic, dominant, submediant, subdominant, etc.) to each image, allowing me to create coherent visual structures analogous to harmonic progressions. The formal analysis of the 'Songs Without Words' visual sonata is as follows: Double Exposition, Development, Recapitulation, and finally a Coda. The Coda section is called 'For Absent Friends'-- a collection of photos of empty and silent performance spaces which is dedicated to our teachers, mentors, and colleagues who have passed.

The musical element of the project will be a new EP of solo classical guitar music roughly 20 minutes in duration, including selections from the second of J.S. Bach's Suites for Unaccompanied 'Cello (BWV 1008), among other works performed on a guitar built in Vienna circa 1830 by an unkown luthier. At the openings of public exhibitions of 'Songs Without Words', I will perform a set of similar music, though the exact program of pieces may vary.

The Book and EP for 'Songs Without Words' are limited to 100 signed copies, and will be released on 6-21-26, and all book orders will include a download code for the EP. Preorders before 6-1-26 are $35, and supporters before 5-1-26 will be included in the acknowledgments section of the book. After this date, the price will increase to $50.

The first public exhibition of 'Songs Without Words' is scheduled from 7-18-26 through 8-15-26 at the Lewisville Grand Theater in Lewisville, Texas.

I am excited to share this work with you!