I’m Theo, a photographer in Corvallis, Oregon. I photograph now.

Most of life is spent moving toward the next thing. A camera is how I stop. I pay attention to light, to the way two people lean toward each other, to a winemaker’s hands in the barrel room. Every frame is a small piece of a moment that won’t happen the same way again.

I grew up in a family that moved a lot as a kid, which taught me early that people can look at the same situation and see something completely different. At Whitman College I studied Environmental Studies and Anthropology, and anthropology changed how I use a camera. I think about where I stand, how I walk into a room, and how my being there changes the people in front of me. Stepping behind the lens always takes me half a step out of the moment, so I try to give time before I take it. I slow down, get off script, and let people be who they are. The good photos come after that.

That’s what draws me to people, their traditions, and the places they call home. I’ve photographed volunteer firefighters in the Pacific Northwest, the Olympic Trials in Indianapolis, and Los Quintos, a coming-of-age ritual in a small Spanish village I’ve returned to for several years. These days I also work with wineries, local businesses, athletes, families, and seniors across Oregon, shooting both digital and film.

I don’t think of the images as mine. They’re made with the people in them, a way of letting someone else stand there for a second too.

When I’m not shooting, I’m on the trails behind my house with my dog, Winnie, or in the water. Swimming has been my constant since I was a kid.