Michael

I live by the philosophy of never settle. If what you are doing doesn't make you happy, change it. It may not be easy but, it is just that simple. I seem to have the need to shake up my life once in a while just to keep things interesting. I grew up in Conyers, GA just outside of Atlanta. I worked in commercial photography for years before I got totally bored with advertising and decided I needed a change. After a bit of travel, and some time studying martial arts in Japan, I decided to finish graduate school in environmental policy at Georgia Tech. Along the way I got interested in working with local groups to solve environmental and city redevelopment problems through community-based partnerships. I am currently living in New York and hold the position of Visiting Assistant Professor in the Public Policy Department of the Rochester Institute of Technology where I teach courses in environmental studies, public administration and program evaluation.
Back in my photography days I had wanted to go to school at RIT as it has one of the best photography programs in the country. Now I get to teach here. Isn’t it funny how the world works?
In Japan, I received a license to turn people into pretzels…
My Teacher Masaaki Hatsumi at the Honbu Dojo in Noda Japan
Sometimes I find myself doing odd things like getting tossed on my head...
"Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat." --Theodore Roosevelt
My Website: Byakutora's Personal Web Space
Check out our E-zine: BujinMag.com