Mike creates spaces where people can feel safe, have fun, and reflect on the value of our majestic, fragile world. Physical places Mike has helped construct include playgrounds for inner-city kids and refugee camps for those displaced by war. But he’s also made spaces for arm-chair travelers—books and videos through which they can experience the planet and its people. And he’s created a place for the voices of the disenfranchised to be heard in a series of photographs and videos about California’s homeless population, The Other 1% and founders of nonprofit organizations, Architects of Opportunities.
The driving desire behind all this building and producing has been two-fold: Mike wants to be in the world and of it, and he wants to serve others.
His life’s journey launched him from New York to California to Paris as a student in the 1970s. From there, Mike traveled from Paris to Kathmandu as the driver of the Magic Bus, an experience that reinforced his desire to travel and his willingness to take risks. Time in Thailand, Japan, Brunei, Malaysia, Kenya & Peru fed Mike’s love of the world and its cultures. He consistently found ways to live that love through actions during his travels, inoculating kids against polio, building real estate management companies, and co-founding Refugees International, a global non-profit for the displaced.
Cameras were his constant in all these endeavors. Mike documented the people, places, and events he encountered, first to share casually with a small circle of friends, then to publish more widely through Spirit House Productions. Cameras both moving and still, continue to convey Mike’s values. As in his life’s work, the role of the images he offers is to help everyone become more compassionate about the plights and lives of others.
The driving desire behind all this building and producing has been two-fold: Mike wants to be in the world and of it, and he wants to serve others.
His life’s journey launched him from New York to California to Paris as a student in the 1970s. From there, Mike traveled from Paris to Kathmandu as the driver of the Magic Bus, an experience that reinforced his desire to travel and his willingness to take risks. Time in Thailand, Japan, Brunei, Malaysia, Kenya & Peru fed Mike’s love of the world and its cultures. He consistently found ways to live that love through actions during his travels, inoculating kids against polio, building real estate management companies, and co-founding Refugees International, a global non-profit for the displaced.
Cameras were his constant in all these endeavors. Mike documented the people, places, and events he encountered, first to share casually with a small circle of friends, then to publish more widely through Spirit House Productions. Cameras both moving and still, continue to convey Mike’s values. As in his life’s work, the role of the images he offers is to help everyone become more compassionate about the plights and lives of others.