Jim Yanke's photostream

I started photographing trains while living in Wisconsin around age 13. I have always had a fascination with railroads that I credit to my dad, who worked as a conductor on the Chicago and North Western Railroad, and brought me along to work during the summer.

It was with his camera that I took my first photographs. Around 1990 I began to experiment with different photographic techniques and became interested in photography as an art form.

Russian studies at the University of Wisconsin and a semester at Moscow State University led me to the American Embassy in Moscow, where I worked for 2½ years. Moscow became home base while I traveled to Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Israel, Kenya, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Thailand, and Turmenistan.

In 1995, I moved to New York City where I lived for 10 years, occasionally did some freelance photographic work and worked full time at a television station.

I currently work as a physician assistant in Madison, Wisconsin.