Piro Patton began taking photographs in 1990 at California Institute of the Arts, where he was earning a degree in jazz performance playing the acoustic bass.

The photographs were a collaboration with choreographer/dancer Lisa Townsend, thereby beginning an enduring professional and personal relationship that has enriched the work of both artists. Devoting a large amount of his energies to the art and craft of photography and production of fine prints, while pursuing a career in jazz in Los Angeles then New York, Patton found himself increasingly in demand for photographic work. His special affinity for movement found favor with dance companies and choreographers including Keely Garfield's Sinister Slapstick and Troika Ranch among others.

As an assistant to commercial and architectural photographers, his technical skills sharpened and he was soon taking commercial assignments himself. In 2002 Patton moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and set up a photographic studio, Piro Patton Pictures. Within a few months he exhibited at the Bolinas Museum's Photographic Gallery, a one-man show that was critically well-received. In 2004 Piro began curating shows for the Bolinas Museum's photography gallery and contributed photographs to a book on local history written by Phil Frank.