In 1982, with the help of a Time Life book, Griffith constructed his first darkroom in the bedroom of his apartment. While searching for more information about black and white photography, Griffith found an old Ansel Adams book that he had purchased from a closeout rack 10 years earlier. He could not have foreseen the impact that forgotten book would have on his future. Wanting to improve his black and white photography skills, Griffith took a photography workshop in California in 1985. From that experience he realized that he could be the kind of photographer he dreamed about, but it would take more than a part-time commitment, especially since he wanted to make a living in photography. In 1986, he quit his job as manager of an auto parts store in Seattle and took a job as manager of one of Seattle's two professional camera stores. He continued to pursue his own personal work, and in 1991 he became an assistant to a Seattle aerial and architectural photographer. In 1992, Griffith started his own commercial photography business (jmgphotography.com).
Griffith began working exclusively with an 8"x10" camera in 1989. Traveling the western United States, he became particularly attracted to the desert southwest. Its stark dry conditions were just the opposite of his beloved home in the Pacific Northwest. His interests also turned to different types of man-made elements. The turn of the century military installations located along the west coasts of Washington and Oregon are featured in the portfolio "Coastal Defense." Images of structures that cross bodies of water are in the portfolio "Crossings," and a collection of photographs taken in the New Orleans' cemeteries is titled "Remembrance."
Griffith married a Seattle woman in 1992, and balances his time between working as an architectural and aerial photographer, teaching, and making photographs that express his view of his world.
