Gary’s love for photography began as a Navy musician in the early 1960s. He was a saxophone player with the Navy Band aboard the USS Oklahoma City, based in Japan. During those years, he hung out with Navy photographers, who taught him the basics of the craft. In 1990, he retired from the Navy as a Photo Warrant Officer.

Earlier in his career, though, Gary lived in Syracuse, New York, where he attended the Navy’s Photojournalism program at Syracuse University in 1976. It was there that he met Barbara Brooks—who, famously, wouldn’t dance with him the night they met.

Less than a year later, they tied the knot, and she became Barbara Martin. She finally danced with Gary, then took his hand as they set off for Japan. There, Gary worked as a photojournalist (or “Phojo”) for three years before heading to the Philippines, where he continued as a Phojo for another three years in Asia.

In 1983, Gary taught photojournalism and photography to military journalists at the Defense Information School. During their time abroad, the couple welcomed their first daughter, Garin, born in Japan in 1979. Their youngest daughter, Quinçi, arrived in 1981 while they were stationed in the Philippines.

After retiring from the Navy, Gary freelanced as a photojournalist. Meanwhile, Barbara, a social worker, worked at a handful of Department of Defense facilities across the United States and Europe, including Spain and Germany. During this period, Gary’s photos graced the pages of both DoD and civilian publications throughout the U.S. and Europe.
Having viewed a million traditional photos and shot thousands for newspapers and magazines, Gary retired again in 2018—alongside his beloved Barbara. Post-retirement, he picked up a hobby painting with acrylics. But after admiring paintings in galleries around the world, he quickly realized brushes and paint weren’t his calling.

Bored with retirement, Gary returned to his true passion: his cameras. Eager for a fresh challenge, he decided to dive into something different—photography with a new twist, blending his decades of experience into a creative second act.