About

“If there is poetry in my book about the sea, it is not because I deliberately put it there, but because no one could write truthfully about the sea and leave out the poetry.”
― Rachel Carson

I firmly believe that the connections to the people and places we pass by are crucial to our understanding of the world. When I look through a lens of a camera, I see not only the world in front of me, but also the mirror of my own interior world. Through my artwork I feel a duty to connect people to one another and to the world around them. Influenced by 20th century photographers such as Manuel Alvarez Bravo and writings of Thich Nhat Hanh and others, I seek an understanding of how we as humans relate to the ever changing world around us. As Rachel Carson describes her writing, I, too, make pieces that are not forcefully poetic or artistic, but more so they are a truthfully detailed rendition of human nature and the natural world that cannot help but the reflect artistry therein.

For photographers, it is easy to use the lens of our camera to distance ourselves from our subjects. Especially in traveling the world, we can sometimes unknowingly otherize or exotify the people in front of the lens. In exploring photography as a mindfulness based practice, I use my camera to instead get closer to my subjects. My most recent body of work documents a year of traveling near and far with a 120mm Hasselblad camera. Rather than sweeping vistas or gritty documentation of the way people live, I portray a series of moments-- conversations had, treks along side roads and alleys, and time otherwise consciously spent connecting to people and place. With my photographs I invite viewers to examine how they choose to draw closer to consciousness in their own lives, to connect with people and surroundings.