Born in Kirksville, Missouri in 1961, Curtis now resides near Moberly, Missouri.

He has been involved in photography most of his forty plus years. Starting out with his dad's hand-me-down 35mm camera when he was 12 and persuing his interest through high school and college. He started his part-time freelance photgraphy business while still in high school which continues today. He also won his first art award in a student show in high school which encouraged him to continue to exhibit, first in outdoor festivals, then eventually in galleries.

In addition to his freelance photography business he has held various jobs in the photo industry.He spent eleven years in the photo lab business until 1993 when he took his current day job as Staff Advertising Photographer for Hubbell Power Systems in Centralia, Missouri.