I love photography. I love the inspiration, the creative energy and the life experience that comes with it. Having the ability to freeze a moment in time to view over and over again and better yet, share with others is an amazing thing. Many of these moments can never ever be duplicated of course. Landscapes change with time. The light from every sunset is different. Buildings are torn down. New ones are erected. Fashion trends change. Automobile styles evolve. Animals you see for a glimpse in the wild are never to be seen again. Faces come and go. Some much too soon. Capturing these “life moments”, no matter how ordinary they may appear, is a rewarding life experience itself.

I also love driving. And road trips even more. However, I rarely plan a road trip around photography. My camera just happens to be a passenger. I usually just get in my car, put the top down, turn the radio up, drive and let my instincts guide me. I enjoy taking unplanned turns, new highways and side roads, not knowing where I’m going to end up or what I’m going to find along the way. Be it a rundown motel or a breathtaking landscape. I love the adventure of it all. That’s what life’s all about and I can’t imagine life any other way.

Every photo has a memory. Every memory has a story. And I have thousands. Together, these photos make up the story of my life. Not the complete story. Just enough to create a string of moments that remind me just how great and interesting a story my life has been so far. I remember being a young teenager in New York City looking at that magnificent skyline in awe. I remember driving across the United States (for a second time), when I stumbled upon a giant T-Rex sculpture in a field in the middle of nowhere. I remember being a senior in high school, about to graduate and go to college, when I decided my sneakers would be a worthy subject. I never know when, why or how inspiration for a photograph will hit me. All I know is that it’s a natural reflex for me to reach for the camera when it does. Clicking a shutter is practically a natural, biological activity for me. Just like breathing. I guess that means I will never stop taking pictures.


- Robert DaGasta, 2004

Robert DaGasta is a native New Yorker who currently resides in Los Angeles, California. He has been an artist and entrepreneur since the age of 8 and took his first photograph at the age of 13 with a Kodak pocket camera. He graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts where he produced a Gold Medal Student Academy Award-winning film in his senior year. Robert has won several awards and contests with his photography and has already established himself as a marketable artist at numerous galleries and events. He continues to travel to new and exciting destinations, always in search of spectacular photographic images as well as incredible life experiences. This past summer – Australia and New Zealand. Up next – Europe, 2005.