“I think I am finally starting to understand living. It is catch and release. It is seasons and cycles. Jumping off a cliff only to swim to a new shore, climb, and jump again.”

intro —

I am driven by stories.

It is only through story that we can start to understand ourselves, our friends, and our world. And to me, the act of storytelling in all its forms, is art and creation.

Ever since I was little, I’ve been an artist. I grew up longing to be in art class, forever doodling in my notebooks and trying to make things. As I’ve grown up, I’ve embraced all kinds of art. Songwriting, drawing, novel-writing, poetry, journaling, filmmaking, and of course, photography. I’ve always been drawn to art because it makes me feel alive. It’s also one of the best ways for me to tell my own story.

Humans are drawn to stories and art because they make life more real, and in turn, we feel less alone. There is community in sharing our experiences, in imagining the experiences of someone else. It leads to empathy and understanding and healing. Art is so powerful because you can reach out and touch someone without even being in the same room. You can write words on a page or hang an image in a museum, and your story can instantly connect you to a person you’ve never met whose story is similar to your own. By telling our story, we open the door for vulnerability and intimacy, and we allow ourselves to feel.

As an artist, stories are woven into my very self. I am who I am today because of the books I’ve read, the movies I’ve seen, and the songs I’ve heard. I am a combination of everyone I’ve ever known, and their stories are apart of me even after they’re gone. The only way I know how to be human, is by telling and listening to stories. And it’s exactly why I am so passionate about my art and my business.

No matter what kind of project I’m pursuing, I strive to tell a cohesive story. Sometimes that means telling my own story, but more often than not I am telling the stories of my clients. I use my art to make people feel seen, to give people a voice, to trap people in a moment in time. I want people to love themselves and I want people to value their own stories. Far too often I see people stuck in shame or fear, and they need someone to listen to them and their story.

Your story is important. The way you see the world is different than anybody else, and that means that just by existing, you are making a huge impact on the world. You deserve to write your story, and I want to help you share it in any way I can.

“for even when we cannot see it,
the light is rising up
resisting
the creatures of chaos”

my story —

One of my biggest pet peeves is when artists talk about how they’ve been creating or singing or drawing since they could talk. But unfortunately, I’m one of those people. My parents gave me a camera as early as 3 years old, and I’ve been making art ever since.

When I was growing up, I remember listing my dream job as “artist.” I wanted to be an author, an illustrator, a singer/songwriter, a pianist…the list is endless. Over the years I have pursued a number of these endeavors. When I was in high school I wrote my own songs and recorded my own music, I performed at our graduation ceremony and sang at open mics. In college, I started a YouTube channel where I talked about books and shared my own experiences through video and filmmaking. I created and self-published a poetry book that went #1 on Amazon. And all of these mini-careers have been dreams come true, but my favorite dream will always be that of photographer.

I’ve always been fascinated by cameras, mainly because my grandfather and my parents took so many photos when I was a kid. We have stacks and stacks of prints from my elementary school days, and looking back now I am so grateful for all the time and money my family took in documenting my youth. And since I grew up during the rise of digital cameras, my teenage years were surrounded by bad selfies and point & shoot birthday parties and heavily documented family vacations. Cameras have always been a constant in my house.

But the most important part of my artistic journey was the introduction of the internet. Social media in particular has had a huge influence on my art, and a lot of my own experience has been shaped by the photoblogs I read at fifteen. Without sites like Tumblr and Flickr, I probably wouldn’t be nearly as interested in photography and documentation as I am. I remember staying up late into the night on my laptop looking through photographs and reading long-form prose about people who were embracing self-portraiture with their DSLRs, who had just started developing their own film, who were questioning things like philosophy and theology. These artists encouraged me to romanticize my life and to create at all costs.

Nowadays I’m still seeking out great art. I think the first step to being an artist is finding inspiration, and even though the internet has changed a lot since I was a teenager, there are still so many incredible creators out there. I’m always finding new people who inspire me to reflect on my craft.

I’ve lost a lot of the drive that I had in my early twenties, and that terrifies me. But I’ve reached a point in my life now where I can take it slow. I try to be intentional in all areas of my life, especially my art, but there’s not a sense of urgency like there once was. Photography will always be there for me whether it’s my professional job or not. So instead of overworking myself as a freelancer, I’m trying to take more time to live. I recently took up rock-climbing, I’m always looking for more excuses to travel, I love getting to binge a show or see a movie in the theater. I love learning more about cooking and finding a good audiobook to listen to. I’m trying to get better at communicating and being emotionally vulnerable with my friends.

I spent most of my twenties frantically racing after a dream life that no longer exists. And somewhere along the way, I lost some essential parts of myself. It’s taken a lot of therapy and self-reflection to find myself again, and even now I’m still learning new things about who I am. But the freedom I have found has allowed me to dive back into my art with more joy, and it’s made all the difference.

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