Photography

My youth was spent in a small rural town in Illinois, and just before my teenage years, we moved to an equally small rural town in Arkansas. These areas have such a dismantled charm. The forgotten and uniqueness of these small areas are unlike any other. Every town is vastly different and has its own beauty.

Capturing people in unexpected moments is an art form. Usually, we don't notice the people around us or not enough even to remember them the next day. But we are all living and experiencing this life for the first time. This series is to explore us as people living and experiencing our lives.

For years, I've been going to see the North East Arkansas Blacksmiths. They are all such skilled artisans and amazing people. I was extremely excited when I was invited to take photos of the blacksmiths making and working with knives. It was a beautiful experience to take portraits of people with something they love so dearly.

I explore history through the women in my family and the ways their presence and absence shape my connection to the past. My paternal lineage exists mostly through artifacts and single photographic headshots, creating a distant but powerful connection, while my maternal side is filled with lived memories, stories, and tangible objects. By weaving these experiences together, I aim to explore femininity as a shared thread connecting generations of women in my family across time.

As a graphic designer, I am drawn to signage and advertising as the visual language that shapes a town’s identity, even though these designs are often overlooked. By photographing local signs in an ambiguous way, I shift the focus to the signage itself instead of its location. Using film allows me to lean into nostalgia, with grain and softness reflecting the imperfect nature of memory. Through this project, I aim to honor these quiet visual markers and preserve the emotional texture of a place that shapes our shared experience.

I had the amazing experience of taking portraits of this graduating senior and capturing some of their last time on campus. Portrait work is my favorite type of photography; capturing someone deeper than the surface is so personal and raw. In my culture, it's believed that taking pictures of someone captures a part of their soul.

The Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis was a stunning opportunity to play with light and color. The intensity and overwhelming nature of being inside a building with art covering each inch were unimaginable.

Sometimes, the simplest detail in black and white makes a photo beautiful. This is just a collection of black and white photos.