Until quite recently, John Purlia had lived his entire adult life without ever having owned a camera.  While friends and family snapped, clicked and shuttered away with photographic delight, John was content to stand still, pose, and smile when called to the ready.

Still, John longed to have a camera of his own and dreamed of the images he might someday capture — beautiful sunsets, rolling seascapes and Guatemalan vegetable stands.

Finally, the glorious day of visual bliss arrived and John had a camera of his very own!   The rest — as they say — is photographic history.  Sunsets!  Wild animals!  Giant birds of paradise!  All captured in rich… and… vibrant… and…

Hey, wait a second!  Birds of paradise?!?!  Who are you trying to kid?  Stop!  Stop!  Just stop this bio page!

Huh?  I don’t get it?  I’m trying to tell the story of how John’s photography evolved from traditional subject matter to more adventurous fare.

Well, just stop.  People don’t want to hear all that.  Who cares if John also takes pictures of weird things like matchbooks in the gutter, odd signs, funny people, and deranged squirrels?  No one really cares!  Get on with the story, please!

As has been established (ahem), John’s early photos were nice, but… ordinary.

Then, one night…

…not so long ago — early 2004, in fact — when the moon was full and all the planets in the heavens aligned, the course of John’s photographic adventures would change forever.  On that night, a fluorescent beam of radiant moonlight poured through his bedroom window, and on that beam rode a clever and mischievous Muse, weaving and coursing her way through the galaxy upon a magnificent celestial slide.  The Muse landed through the open window as softly as only a Muse could, and with three feathery steps she leaned over and whispered into John’s sleeping ear:

It is never too late to be what you might have been

John awoke the next morning with his head suddenly filled with creative ideas — short stories, novelettes, home décor projects and sudden inspiration for taking his photography in more speculative directions.  A mystical power had taken hold and he felt driven to explore fond interests from his youth… toys… vinyl records… found objects…  And to stage those elements in imaginative vignettes to tell visual stories that would…

…surprise and delight…

…he thought he heard whispered into his ear.

And John took out his camera.