Faces of Cleveland is a visual narrative of the city’s identity — an inclusive look at its history, culture, people, and diversity. My initial inspiration for “Faces of Cleveland” was the Haserot Angel at Lake View Cemetery and the Native American Indian Chief on the Cuyahoga County Courthouse doors.  I always wanted to do something original with their evocative faces. What story could I tell with these faces that hadn't been told before?  Faces of Cleveland is my endeavor to reveal the character and soul of Cleveland beyond block letters and script signs.

Soon I started taking photographs of the many statues around town and focusing on the "faces" of Cleveland.  My goal was not to simply create an "inventory" of local sculpture but to make something interesting and positive and sometimes whimsical about Cleveland. My particular approach and focus is to create up-close, high resolution unconventional "portrait" photographs of statues and sculptures at eye-level combining the latest digital imaging. In some cases distractions like parked cars, telephone wires, and litter are removed. Photography and digital artistry can breathe new life into these forgotten and neglected icons by placing them in memorable present day settings and new surroundings. My goal is for Clevelanders to explore parts of our city previously unknown to them, and to gain new understandings of the lives of the people represented by the statues, the communities that honored them, and the sculptors that created them. All photographs and images are original composites (with minor exceptions using NASA images, flags of countries and paintings that are in the public domain).  Over the last few years I have been granted special access to several Cleveland gems hiding in plain sight.

Many thanks to David Deming and Jim Ptacek, and to the folks at Heritage Park and the Cleveland Guardians organization, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Library and Archives, Saint Mary's Church (Collinwood), Parker-Hannifin Corporation, the Garfield Memorial (Lake View Cemetery), the Russian Cultural Garden office, USS COD Submarine Memorial, NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland Public Library (Main Branch), the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library, the Ukrainian Museum and Archive, the Cleveland History Center, Gilmour Academy, Nottingham-Spirk Innovation Center, the Baseball Heritage Museum (League Park), Interlake Maritime Services, Great Lakes Science Center (GLSC), the USS Cleveland Legacy Foundation (USSCLF), the Community West Foundation, and the J.M. Smucker Company who allowed me to photograph sculptures of Jim Thome, Jim Brown, Frank Robinson, Jane Scott, Frank Lausche, Pat Parker, President James Garfield, Yuri Gagarin, Edward Sharp, Moses, Superman, Elmer Flick, The Lone Sailor, the Matthew 25 Collection, and “The Boys” just to name a few.

Believeland Photography is sometimes funny, often poignant, definitely original, and always deferential.