David Arthur Gardiner :: davidgardiner – Photography

Born, in then–West Germany, January, 1970, David spent the vast majority of his youth abroad. After attending the University of Texas at Arlington, David enlisted in the Army in the fall of 1993. SSG Gardiner spent the next nine years stationed at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, and Fort Bragg, North Carolina, quickly climbing the ranks of the Non–Commissioned Officer Corps. He graduated in the “top ten” percentile from many of the military’s toughest leadership schools and earned several of the Army's most coveted awards before being discharged in October, 2002.

David is now entering his fourth year of studies in Corcoran’s Photojournalism BFA Program. He looks forward to honing the skills he has acquired, as well as developing those skills which only come with time and the innate enthusiasm he brings to all his photographic endeavors.

Both David and his wife, Emily live in Arlington, Virginia, where his current project lies nested in the community of Our Lady Queen of Peace (OLQP). A historically African–American church and community, OLQP and its original founders have fallen victim to the exorbitant costs of living. The inclusion of a predominantly caucasian upper middle–class society is responsible for the restructuring of a community which has fought long and hard to establish its own identity, only to be forced out by an economic growth designed to do just that.