Chuck

Japan circa 2011

Why I go by Chuck Now

In November 2024, I had an S-ICD implanted. Alongside that procedure came a life-changing diagnosis: DSP cardiomyopathy. It was a moment that reshaped everything, how I moved, how I lived, how I saw myself. Cycling, running, skateboarding, and drinking activities that once defined my freedom and identity were suddenly no longer possible.

I had already stopped drinking before the diagnosis, but I always figured I’d go back someday. With DSP, that chapter closed for good. Sobriety became permanent, not out of loss, but as an intentional step toward preserving this new version of myself. Still, it was disorienting. It felt like the version of me I’d known was slowly unraveling.

But in the quiet that followed, something new began to take form.

I chose to go by Chuck, short for Charles, my middle name. It wasn’t about erasing the past, but about stepping into the present with clarity. Chuck is the name of the person who came through the storm, steadier, quieter, more focused. Someone still relentless, just in a different way.

Before my ICD was implanted, I had already begun working on a photo project called Broken Rhythm, a visual reflection on my adolescent life through the lens of being diagnosed with heart failure. That project cracked something open in me. It reminded me that photography isn’t just about documenting the world, it’s about understanding yourself within it.

Broken Rhythm eventually inspired The Relentless Mustang, a project thats rooted in my creative identity. My photography has always been inspired by the movement of people, places, and time. About capturing the raw, evolving beauty of the Western United States. And now, that story includes my own transformation. My internal landscape has shifted. The horizon looks different. But the wildness, the drive, the pursuit of truth through imagery that remains.

Chuck is still out there, camera in hand, documenting the world. Just differently. More intentionally. More relentlessly.

Thanks for being on the ride with me. Cheers!

—Chuck