Welcome to Foto Betiko! My name is Bill Herndon, and for 35 years I worked in information and cyber security, software assurance, and software engineering. Now I devote my energy to improving my photography, becoming a better poet, and completing my research into my family’s history.

For many years I thought of myself as a documentary photographer, capturing subjects and scenes of special historical, familial, or social significance. In fact, ‘Betiko’ means ‘forever’ in the Basque language, and my goal was to make a photographic record of subjects that deserved not to be forgotten.

Recently though, my photography has grown more introspective. In a world where every subject and scene has been captured…many times,…from every angle…in every conceivable way…the only frontier left seems to be the exploration of why I choose particular subjects and what the scenes I capture mean to me. To that end, I now lean into interpreting my photos, externalizing the meaning or what was in my mind’s eye–in other words, what I’m seeing that is obviously not what my camera captured.

This site brings together all aspects of my work in photography: My thoughts on process and relevance; examples of my projects and galleries; curated exhibits and examples of my work that you can obtain for yourself, along with information on engaging Foto Betiko (me) to capture a subject that you feel should not be forgotten.