Like many passionate photographers Dan began his love affair at an early age: working a paper route so he could buy a German 35mm rangefinder, followed by his first exposure to a darkroom in a converted guest bath. Dan grew up just 5 miles from Disneyland—with Walt teaching him the magic of the story. His Master’s level influence continued with Frank Lloyd Wright and Jackson Pollock—muses both. It was his Mother, known to all as simply Tricia, who took him to a Special Exhibition of Jackson Pollock at LACMA in 1965, a serendipitous encounter no doubt, believing in him then, and nurturing him to love art for a lifetime.

Pollock’s influence was swift, and Dan entered his first professional juried competition in 1965 at Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, CA, and was accepted. His work at that time, as a painter, was abstract expressionism—think of melding Pollock’s angst with Rothko’s form and sense of place. Dan continued his expressionistic bent, until he entered college (University of California at Santa Cruz) hoping to become a scientist-architect, and his photographic nature reared its head in a more formal architectural genre.

By the late ‘90’s and into the early noughts Dan’s work became more minimalist and he was known for a time as Daniel Scissorhands due to his propensity to cut out what he did not want. This trait became characteristic of Dan’s work, also becoming more painterly as well—and at times, sculptural.

Dan’s photography is in collection at LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art), and the Chinese-American Museum (Los Angeles). He was Licensed by Getty Images, Blend Images/Spaces Images, and was represented by The Haen Gallery in Asheville, NC., the Abend Gallery and the Mike Wright Gallery in Denver, CO, and The Downstairs Gallery in Savannah, GA.