I’m a visual storyteller. this is my story.
I was born in Oakland, California in 1979, and I’ve lived in the Bay Area my entire life.
Oakland isn’t just where I’m from. It’s where I’ve grown up, made art, raised a family, and found a community that continues to inspire me every day.
Stephen Loewinsohn circa 1984. Photo by Howard Smagula.
The EIGHTIES
latchkey kid noun: a school-aged child of working parents who spends part of the day unsupervised.
Circa 1986. Photo by Stacy Owens.
I grew up in the ’80s. I spent a lot of time alone, exploring, observing, and getting into trouble.
School was always a struggle for me, and I was often bored or lost in classrooms. But I found myself drawn to music, art, and computers.
Circa 1988. Photo by Kathryn Hughes
THE NINETIES
dropout noun: a person who leaves school, college, or university before completing a qualification, or a person who lives in an unusual way.
Yearbook photo 1992.
Gilman Street 1995. Photo By Christan Larsen.
In 1996 I took the California Highschool Proficiency Exam and quit high school so I could focus on music, drugs, and petty crime.
I played in punk bands, recorded music, and toured all over the US and Canada in a smelly old van with my best friends.
“The Barn” 1999. Photo by Sita Rupe.
The Cost on tour in 1999. Photo by Sita Rupe.
Gilman Street 1995. Photo By Christan Larsen.
In the early 2000s, my band played its last show, but I still wanted to see more of the world.
I worked in IT until I saved up enough money to quit and go traveling for a while.
THE two-thousands
wanderer noun: someone who travels from place to place, especially without any clear aim or purpose.
Roswell, NM 2004
I backpacked around Europe, and I took several long-distance solo motorcycle camping trips across the US, Mexico, and Canada.
Segovia, Spain 2005
Cabazon, CA 2004.
Utah 2004.
In 2006, I decided to go back to school to study photojournalism and film.
I was ready to take my creative instincts more seriously — and finally found myself in an environment where learning felt meaningful.
kismet noun: a hypothetical force or personified power that determines the course of the future.
That same year, I met my future wife, Briana Loewinsohn — a brilliant artist and educator.
She instantly became my favorite person in the world, and has been a steady source of inspiration, humor, and perspective ever since.
Jessica Fisher
Ian King
Briana and Stephen Loewinsohn getting dressed up in 2006.
Tim Hainley
Production stills from the set of “Campus Cowboy” 2008
That same year, I married Briana, and over the next few years, we welcomed two amazing kids into the world.
It was a decade of big changes: becoming a husband, a father, and an artist all at once — learning to balance creative work with family life, and finding joy and meaning in both.
the twenty-tens
photographer noun: a person who takes photographs, especially as a job.
In 2010, after graduating from San Francisco State University, I fully committed to life as a working photographer — leaving my day job behind and focusing entirely on freelance visual storytelling.
From 2010-2017 I worked as a staff photographer for The East Bay Express, covering politics, music, food, sports, protests, and everyday life in the East Bay. It gave me access to people and moments I never would’ve seen otherwise, and helped me learn how to connect with strangers through the lens.
editorial assignments:
In 2017, I became fascinated with aerial photography. Camera drones had finally gotten small and powerful enough to open up new creative possibilities, and I dove in headfirst.
I captured thousands of photos and hours of footage from all over the Bay Area — chasing light, motion, and the patterns of daily life.
In 2018, I released The Bridge and Tunnel Crowd — a short film told through aerial time-lapse photography and scored with my own music.
The piece explores the hypnotic choreography of Bay Area commuting, turning everyday movement into something almost meditative.
A DJI Mavic 2 Pro hovering above Oakland in 2018
The film caught the attention of a creative director at Recreation, a small but forward-thinking ad agency in San Francisco.
They brought me on as a jack-of-all-trades visual storyteller — photographer, drone pilot, cinematographer, and video editor.
Filming a live vascular surgery operation for Recreation in 2019.
It was a chance to work on a wide range of creative projects and sharpen my skills across disciplines, all while collaborating with a team that valued experimentation and originality.