His first published photograph appeared in Blue Ridge Country magazine in 1993. His first book, “Pordenone e la sua Provincia” or “Pordenone and Province” was published by Vianello Libri in Treviso, Italy in 2003. He graduated with an Associate of Science degree in commercial photography from Randolph Community College in Asheboro, North Carolina in 2005, and from 2005 to 2008 he photographed for several North Carolina based magazines and did annual report photography for non-profit organizations. From 2008 to 2011 John worked in West Africa as a photographer for Mercy Ships, an international charity, aboard the surgical hospital ship M/V Africa Mercy. John now lives in Waynesville, North Carolina with his wife, Jenny, and their three children.