In November of 1993, I decided to travel to Eastern Europe to photograph for a few months before returning back to NYC to develop a photojournalistic-style portfolio with the hopes of embarking on a career in photojournalism. But while in Budapest, I met a fellow New Yorker on the metro - we were both heading to the same event. She said she wrote a style column for the local English language newspaper in Budapest and could use a photographer for events and parties. We became friends and I worked with her and although I always preferred news, political or cultural topics, this began my life as a freelance photojournalist, and at this newspaper, I met journalists that I traveled with to other countries in the region to cover interesting stories, some of whom I remain friends with to this day. I ended up staying in Budapest, Hungary until March of 2002.

Some of the stories that I covered include: the Pope’s first visit to Croatia, September 1994; Polio epidemic in Albania in October 1996; Blood feuds in the northern mountains of Albania in October 1996; the Centenarians of the mountains of Bulgaria in March 1998; the beginnings of ethnic Albanian refugees fleeing Kosovo into northern Albania in June 1998; Refugees fleeing Kosovo to camps set up in Macedonia in April 1999; Medical personnel working in a MASH unit in a refugee camp in Macedonia in April 1999; Cyanide spill into Tisza River at a mining camp in northern Romania in February 2000; IMF/World Bank demonstrations in Prague in Sept 2000; Profile of people who helped oust Slobodan Milosevic in Belgrade, Serbia in December 2000; and Life in Sarajevo after war and DNA lab in Tuzla, Bosnia in July 2001.

Some of the publications, NGOs and News agencies that I worked for include: Associated Press, Chicago Tribune, Dallas Morning News, The Baltimore Sun, The Boston Globe, The Financial Times (UK), World View Magazine (Peace Corp. publication), UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund), International Red Cross and Red Crescent; The Open Society Institute, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Radio Times (Radio publication), The Lancet medical journal, The Budapest Sun, Business Central Europe.