Artist Statement

I fell somewhat accidentally into photography several years after graduating high school. In the beginning, my work began by blindly mimicking any and all pictures that fled through my head, making most of my early film pieces highly biographical. The darkroom is still my favored editing and development process because of the personal interaction and imperfections it allows for. More recently however, I’ve begun working digitally, especially when shooting overseas.

I strive to portray desperation and spontaneity in all my photos, while focusing on the similarities that exist between various lifestyles. For me, art is the re-creation of an already obvious truth, ones specifically we would often rather not confront. Everything we visually observe on a daily basis is filtered through personal beliefs and mental processes. A process of distortion. Does a single being actually see the world as it objectly exists - it doesn’t objectively exist period. To capture and conceptualize this distortion is one of my highest goals. “For what we see here is but a shadow of the world to come”. This phrase puts spiritual meaning behind behind every shoot I do and guides the perspectives behind all my photos. What I view behind a lens is highly motivated by angles, blank space and the emotions of individuals. If I can document even a moment of their deeper reality, my job is done.